Cheshire East flies the flag

Cheshire East Council today held a ceremony to mark Armed Forces Week. The Armed Forces Day flag was raised outside the authority’s Westfields HQ in Sandbach at 10am today (June 22), by Council Leader Michael Jones and the authority’s armed forces champion and former mayor Councillor Gordon Baxendale.

The occasion was in support of efforts to get hundreds of armed forces flags flown at significant, strategic and eye-catching sites across the UK.

Armed Forces Week provides an opportunity for communities to show their support for the men and women who make up the forces community, from serving members of the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to service families, veterans and cadets.

Events are being held across the nation in coming days to mark Armed Forces Week. These range from major set-piece events including military personnel to smaller scale, community-based events. Among the events planned locally is a ‘picnic in the park’ being held on Sunday (June 28) at Queens Park, Crewe.

Cllr Jones said: “Cheshire has a long and distinguished history of military forces being based within the county and Cheshire East Council is proud to be a signatory to the Armed Forces Community Covenant.

“We raise this flag today to honour that ongoing commitment and to emphasise the strong ties of respect, gratitude and affinity we cherish with all our servicemen and women for the tremendous work they do for the nation.

”The Community Covenant is a voluntary statement of support between communities and the armed forces. The aims of the community covenant are to:

• Encourage local communities to support the armed forces community in their areas;
• Nurture public understanding and awareness of issues affecting the armed forces community;
• Recognise and remember the sacrifices made by the armed forces community;
• Encourage activities which help to integrate the armed forces community into local life.

The Government has published a national Armed Forces Covenant which sets the tone for Government policy aimed at improving the support available for the armed forces community.

The core principles are that members of the armed forces community do not suffer disadvantage as a result of their service and that they receive special treatment where appropriate.

For further information visit the Armed Forces Covenant pages on the GOV.UK website. For more information about local events to mark Armed Forces Week and Armed Forces Day, on Saturday, June 27, visit the Royal British Legion website at: www.armedforcesday.org.uk/find-events/.