Horton Lodge Farm
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 Horton Lodge Farm 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 Horton Lodge Farm 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:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- Discounts
- Armed Forces Charities
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:

Reserves. We will fix an HR Policy that supports the Reserves by offing additional 5 days paid leave for full time employees; Veterans Employment. We will employ suitably skilled Service leavers within our operations. We will also continue to be active advocates through membership of associations such as the ABF and other regional employer associations to promote the value of service leavers and their families as potential future employees. We are very keen to offer work placement opportunities around Equine management and Agriculture in the future. We will guarantee interview scheme from service leavers that can demonstrate that they satisfy the required qualification criteria; Spousal/Partner Support. We will work with service leavers to help family members, including spouses and partners into employment, Support and seek the employment of Forces spouses, partners and dependents. Offer support for any spouse or partner whose partner is to be deployed before, during and after deployment by offering leave at short notice where possible; Cadets Forces. Engage with uniformed and none uniformed Cadet Instructors to establish what support we can offer. We will provide Insight days for older Cadets looking for either an apprenticeships and we will support focal Cadet Units where possible; Wounded, Injured and Sick. We already work closely with the ABF and the BSOC charities within our area running the Bag End Shoot on an annual basis to raise money for the Veteran Community; Forces Discount. As our Company develops we will seek to provide discounts for our products to the Military Community.

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.