Help For Heroes
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-10)

We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.

The Armed Forces Covenant

An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant

1.1 We Help For Heroes will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment

2.1 Help For Heroes recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
We also pledge the following:

Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation; Help for Heroes supports veterans and serving personnel who have been wounded or injured, or have become sick, as a result of serving their country. Additionally, their families and dependents receive support from the Charity as they care for their loved one and adapt to the new challenges that they face. Many of our Recovery staff have recently served in the Armed Forces and come to Help for Heroes as experts in their fields. They fully understand our beneficiaries and their needs. We have created fellowship networks for the wounded, injured and sick and for close family members, which give opportunities for peer support, public recognition and a greater understanding of their needs Seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old; Help for Heroes Career Recovery recognises that veterans are highly skilled and capable individuals with a huge amount to contribute to society. Responding to this need, Help for Heroes actively supports wounded, injured and sick veterans into paid or voluntary work through the Pathfinder Experience a 3 phase programme of training and skills development to help ensure that anyone who has been wounded, injured or sick and has left the Armed Forces is given every opportunity to achieve a fulfilling career elsewhere. The Help for Heroes Career Recovery work is officially recognised by City and Guilds and The Institute of Leadership and Management. In addition, Help for Heroes also supports the Recovery Career Services in partnership with the MoD and other charity partners to ensure that wounded, injured and sick Service personnel receive every opportunity to compete in the civilian employment market. Members of the Armed Forces Community make up almost one quarter of H4Hs workforce Striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners and endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partners deployment; A number of our staff and volunteers are Service spouses. Help for Heroes recognises the unique circumstances of service life and offers flexible leave around deployments, overseas training and other military events. Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible; Help for Heroes employs a number of Reservists, the majority having recently left the Armed Forces. The charity accommodates training and deployments on a case by case basis. Offering support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools, where possible; Those closest to our wounded, injured and sick play an essential role in the recovery process and thus we recognise the need to support family members, including children, as they support their hero. Help for Heroes therefore engages people of all ages, including young children and teenagers, in order to promote the work of the Charity. Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day; Help for Heroes promotes Armed Forces Day through our social media channels and actively takes part in local and regional Armed Forces Day events, using the opportunity to promote the work of the Charity and its mission. Working collaboratively with partner charities to deliver more support to more members of the Armed Forces and their families than ever before. Help for Heroes is an executive member of COBSEO (Confederation of Service Charities), which ensures that the Charity is part of the powerful voice that lobbies on behalf of all Service charities. We work closely with all the key delivery charities such as The Royal British Legion, SSAFA, BLESMA, Blind Veterans UK and Combat Stress as well as all the MoD, NHS and civilian agencies to deliver the right, timely support.

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.