Escape the Village
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 Escape the Village 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 Escape the Village 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 Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
We also pledge the following:

Promoting the Armed Forces: Employment support to members of the Armed Forces Community: o Support Reservists by offering them additional days of annual leave (paid/unpaid) in order to carry out their duties. o Offer additional (paid/unpaid) annual leave to Cadet Force Adult Volunteers to help them carry out their training requirement. Communications, engagement and outreach: o Including local REME events, like the local business community event, by having a business stand o Support or promote Armed Forces events, such as Armed Forces Day/Week, Re-serves Day, the Poppy Appeal and Remembrance activities. o Create dedicated Armed Forces content on our website o Membership of the Royal British Legion and supporting our local Calne RBL activities o Run, facilitate or promote support networks (such as coffee mornings, breakfast clubs) for veterans and other members of the Armed Forces Community. Commercial: o including specialist marketing support services for new businesses by veterans, re-servists or their families o Offer and/or promote commercial discounts for members of the Armed Forces Community via the Defence Discount Service. o Waive cancellation fees for utility and other contracts for those posted overseas or to areas outside the service provision. o Ensure the Armed Forces Community has fair access to your services and is not put at a disadvantage by their service, for example as a result of their high mobility. Civic Responsibilities: o Organise, facilitate, promote and/or take part in remembrance and other ceremonial activities. o Support with local poppy collections through our local RBL Attendance at our Local Veteran Breakfast Clubs as veterans ourselves: Education & Training Opportunities, Including the Marketing Mentoring Club: Providing Military Business Networking Opportunities Through Hosting the National Military Circle Group Biweekly areas it has switched to word switch to document one Any additional commitment the organisation wishes to make.

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.