Leader's column: In praise of our armed forces

In her latest column, Tameside Council's Executive Leader Cllr Brenda Warrington says she's proud of how the authority treats the borough's armed forces personnel and veterans.

Around this point in the summer would be the time where we would be enjoying some of the biggest annual cultural events on Tameside's calendar.

Unfortunately the ongoing struggle against coronavirus means that the vast majority of public outdoor gatherings have had to be postponed. 

However, thanks to the hard work and creativity of our residents and communities we’ve been able to channel the spirit of these events in a different way.

Nowhere has this been truer than with Armed Forces Day, our yearly celebration of the brave men and women who defend our country. Since our usual family entertainment in Victoria Park in Denton was no longer an option, we encouraged people to turn to the internet to show their support. 

Using the tagline #SaluteOurForces, the entire country paid tribute to the armed forces by sending photos and videos of themselves, their friends and their colleagues saluting on social media.

For Tameside, this Armed Forces Day gave us particular cause for celebration as we found out that local veteran James Kirk, who recently turned 100, will join the very select list of foreigners awarded the Legion d’Honneur, the French equivalent of the Victoria or George Cross. 

Tameside Council and the Tameside Armed Service Community are currently arranging for the medal to be formally presented to him by the French Consul when it is safe to do so.

However, as I’ve said before, while we offer our full support to Armed Forces Day we are ultimately judged by how we treat our armed forces’ personnel and veterans for the other 364 days of the year. 

To give you just one example of what this means in practice, I’m proud of the fact that we have no armed forces’ veterans on the social housing list or in emergency or temporary accommodation, and we haven’t for quite some time. 

We have also received the ‘Gold Award’ from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, the highest possible accolade for organisations which align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant.

My thanks go out to everybody that took part in the Armed Forces Day celebrations. You’ve proven that, even in the midst of this terrible coronavirus, Tameside’s community spirit has not wavered. 

I pledge that we will continue working to make Tameside the best place in Britain for looking after armed forces’ veterans and their families, on Armed Forces Day and every day after that.