Southway Housing Trust
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 Southway Housing Trust 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 Southway Housing Trust 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 Service Spouses And Partners
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
We also pledge the following:

Raising Awareness Making sure that our colleagues, customers and business partners understand our support for the Armed Forces and their families Providing access to staff to training to increase staffs awareness Displaying the corporate Covenant logo on our website and on social media sites Displaying links to other sites and organisations that provide support to ex service veterans Being an active member of the GM Armed Forces Group Supporting Armed Forces Day. Rehousing Through our membership of Manchester Move, awarding Armed Forces veterans, band 1 rehousing priority Identifying customers who have or are serving armed forces and offering them support if possible, and if needed. Giving priority to ex service veterans with all shared ownership housing Employment Aiming to support colleagues who are partners of those serving in the Armed Forces by offering the flexibility of approving leave at short notice to coincide with their partners sudden or unexpected deployment Seeking to support the employment of Armed Forces veterans, young and old and share our vacancies with the various partners seeking to assist them in securing jobs Guaranteeing to interview any Armed Forces veteran applying for a post at Southway and who meets the requirements set out in the Job Profile Recognising military skills and qualifications when interviewing for new positions. Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve and Cadet 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.