Thursday 28 July 2011

Latest updates to the Roll of Honour

The Armed Forces Memorial [picture by David Faul]

Our website holds information about the Armed Forces Memorial (AFM) and also houses the AFM Roll of Honour Facility

The Roll of Honour* details deaths in Service since January 1, 1948 and is normally updated monthly. Its search facility potentially allows you to search for a person who died while they were serving.

The Roll of Honour has just been updated and potentially records the details of  Service Personnel up to and including June 30, 2009.  Partial records are potential available for those who died from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010.

It potentially provides details about Service personnel who died over two years ago.  Partial records are normally reviewed two years after the date of death when more information may be available. 

The search facility is simple to use, requiring either the surname,forenames or initials and/or the Service number.  Once you've found the Service person you're looking for, there is an option to print an AFM certificate.

*Inclusion on the Armed Forces Memorial and the Roll of Honour is determined by the AFM Trustees Inclusion criteria.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Find out why you need to stay safe online


Think before you . . .  

How an MOD campaign is helping the Armed Forces Community stay safe online . . .

With Twitter users sending 200 million tweets per day and over 700 billion minutes per month spent on Facebook, Social Media tools have become the quickest way to share information across the world.  But who are you sharing information with?

If you use social media as a way to stay in touch, then the online guidance produced for the MOD’s Online Security Awareness Campaign – Think before you share . . . – may be useful for you to enjoy the benefits of sharing information while staying safe online.

In our  latest podcast, SPVA presenter Joanne Lowe interviews Pippa Norris from the Directorate Media and Communications to find out more about the campaign.

Pippa said:

“Our campaign is for all the Armed Forces Community. We want people to enjoy using social networks but we also want to ensure they have all the information to protect themself online.  The information would benefit any member of the Armed Forces Community, so please take a listen to the podcast today”



Laurie Manton, SPVA Spokesman said:

“As part of the MOD, we at SPVA have a responsibility to raise awareness of the guidance so that wider awareness can be spread among members of the Armed Forces Community.  Our own staff use social media as a way to raise awareness of our services, so we have found the guidance useful and it will help us stay safe online too.” 


The podcast and other SPVA social media products are available to access on the SPVA Social Media Hub via the Veterans-UK website, www.veterans-uk.info , and on various social media sites such as iTunes and YouTube.

Wednesday 6 July 2011

How personal do you want your profile to be?



The third video for the MOD Online Security Awareness Campaign is now online.

An MOD Civil Servant is using LinkedIn to share her personal information, but how personal does she want her profile to be?

What kind of YouTube hit do you want to be?



The fourth and final video for the MOD Online Security Awareness Campaign is now online.

A couple of solders are chatting about a video they've shared online, but what sort of YouTube hit do they want to be?


For more information, click here

Monday 4 July 2011

Armed Forces Community Covenant signed in Catterick

Representatives for each service and local council members at the Catterick Garrison leisure centre
[Picture: Corporal Gary Kendall RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
An Armed Forces Community Covenant, a voluntary statement of mutual support between a civilian community and its local Armed Forces community, was signed at Catterick Garrison on Friday.

The Community Covenant initiative was one of the key measures in the Armed Forces Covenant published in May 2011, which outlined the moral obligation between the Nation, the Government and the Armed Forces, and aims to improve support to the Armed Forces Community (which includes serving personnel, their families and veterans).

Community Covenants have already been launched in Oxfordshire, the Vale of Glamorgan and Hampshire, and one is due to be launched in Portsmouth soon.

The aims of the Community Covenant include:
  • to encourage local communities to support the Armed Forces Community in their areas, and vice versa;
  • to promote understanding and awareness amongst the public of issues affecting the Armed Forces Community;
  • to recognise and remember the sacrifices made by the Armed Forces Community; and
  • to encourage activities which help to integrate the Armed Forces Community into local life.

Friday 1 July 2011

New rehabilitation centre prepares to open

From left: Rifleman Linden Woodford, aged 21 from 3rd Battalion The Rifles, Major Peter Norton, and Private Josh Campbell, aged 21 from 23 Pioneer Regiment, outside Tedworth House
[Picture: Sergeant Ian Forsyth RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2011]
Tedworth House, the newest of the Army Personnel Recovery and Assessment Centre is getting ready to open its doors.The centre will provide comprehensive support to wounded, injured and sick personnel and their families for life. Key facilities including temporary residential accommodation, classrooms, catering facilities and a gymnasium are now up and running. This means that recovering personnel can now move in this month. The renovations work at Tedworth House is due to be completed in Spring next year and when open, the centre will be able to provide support and residential accommodation for up to 50 wounded, injured and sick personnel from all three Services in the south of England.

Tedworth House is one centre in a network of five Personnel Recovery Centres that form part of the Army Recovery Capability, a joint multi-million pound venture between the MOD, Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion. Construction work is currently underway on a centre based in Colchester.