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Heriot-Watt University is one of the 900 organisations in Great Britain and Northern Ireland that has achieved the Armed Forces Covenant Silver Award for their outstanding support for the Armed Forces.
The prestigious Silver Award accolade is the second-highest badge of honour available to organisations that employ and support reservists, service leavers, veterans and their families.
Each Silver Award winner has signed the Armed Forces Covenant, a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly.
At the heart of our commitment is the recognition of the value that ex-Armed Forces personnel can bring to our workplace. The skills learned in the armed forces such as leadership, organisation and teamwork are very transferable, and we have signed a pledge to encourage ex-Armed Forces personnel to join us as employees. One commitment to help us do that is by offering a guaranteed job interview for prospective employees who demonstrate they meet the essential criteria for the role.
As a Silver award holder, we have demonstrated that we proactively demonstrate our commitment to employing service personnel, that we employ people from the armed forces community, and that we have a positive HR policy on Reserves that provides time off for training of Reservists.
A new Reservists, Veterans and Forces Families network is being established to coordinate the support we provide to our armed forces colleagues, both staff and students, and members of armed forces families. This new group will take forward the actions from our Armed Forces Covenant and ensure we are delivering on our commitments to our armed forces and their families.
Professor Gillian Hogg said, “We are delighted to receive this prestigious Silver Award, which recognises that our community at Heriot-Watt welcomes and supports veterans, reservists and their families. This accolade is important as it aligns so closely with our values and our desire to be an inclusive University where all staff and students feel they belong.”
You can read more about the Armed Forces Covenant here and more about Heriot-Watt University's commitment here.