The Riverside Group
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 The Riverside Group 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 The Riverside Group 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 Veterans And Leavers
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
We also pledge the following:

Promote the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation. Riverside will proudly promote the fact that we are an armed forces friendly organisation, by publicising our Corporate Covenant on our national website, and displaying it at our National Headquarters in Liverpool. We will continue to champion the Armed Forces via support activities in our Veterans services. Seek to support the training employment of Veterans and those from an Armed Forces background. Supporting the training and employment of veterans is one of the key ways Riverside fulfils our corporate commitment. Through our three flagship housing, training and enterprise centres neighbouring Catterick, Middlesborough and Ladershot, we provide a range of training opportunities around catering, baking, HGV driving, close protection, construction and other disciplines. The management of our servies is led by staff who are veterans themselves. We have already employed a percentage of veterans and those who family backgrounds are in the Armed Forces within our staff teams. We have received national recognition for our involvement of veterans at the very heart of our veteran’s services. We will continue to pioneer innovative ways of involving veterans in our services by providing them with training and employment opportunities, including guaranteeing interviews for those ex-Service personnel who apply for positions with us and meet the job criteria. Working with Riverside’s suppliers to encourage their participation Riverside works with a range of suppliers and contractors nationwide. We are continually developing partnerships that help our veterans into employment. An example of this is our work with Greatest Expectations who offer traineeships and work experience to our veterans at Hardwick House, our veterans supported housing project in Middlesbrough. We commit to actively working with our other suppliers to encourage them to provide training and employment opportunities for veterans. Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including accommodating training and deployment where possible. A number of full time staff are members of the Reserve forces. Riverside will continue to accommodate their training and deployment, on a case by case basis. Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day. Riverside commits to promte the importance of support for veterans and Armed Forces Day. We will do this using our network of Veterans Services, our media and social media teams, our online presence to over 9,000 followers nationwide and by communications to our 50,000 tenants. Seeking, where possible, to prioritise accommodation for Armed Forces families and Veterans. Riverside already provides accommodation for Armed Forces personnel across the Midlands, working in partnership with the Royal Air Force and Army. Nationwide Riverside owns or manages over 50,000 properties and we will seek to utilise our responsibility for this stock by seeking where appropriate to prioritise accommodation for Armed Forces personnel. Promoting the Armed Forces Covenant Riverside will actively encourage likeminded organisations and suppliers to sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant. By doing so we will underscore our continuing support for the Armed Forces.

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.