Armed Forces Covenant Network

Supporting our armed forces community

Upcoming News Items

MKC Training receives the Forces Covenant Gold Award 2023!

MKC Training are extremely proud to announce that we have received the 2023 Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award. This award is linked to the Armed Forces Covenant which is a promise by the nation to ensure that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, including Reservists, Cadet volunteers and their families, are treated fairly.

Read our news article about the Forces Covenant Gold Award 2023.


Armed Forces Breakfast Club Saturday 29th April!


Armed Forces Breakfast Club

Our recent Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club brought together 86 personnel from six local Breakfast Clubs, fostering camaraderie and a sense of belonging.

Read on to learn about the highlights, inspiring presentations, and the charitable contributions made during this successful gathering Armed Forces Breakfast Club Blog.


Walk & Talk 999

Join us to boost your mental and physical wellbeing with a men's walking group for Emergency Services, Armed Forces and NHS personnel. Open to those who are serving, have served or are retired.

Every Saturday at 9:30am at Hampton, Herne Bay, Kent

Meet opposite The Hampton Inn, Hampton Pier Avenue, CT6 8DL

A gentle walk offering the platform to talk

To find out more please contact Walk & Talk.

Or find them on social media Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.



Ongoing Activities

The Armed Forces Act 2021

This Act came into force in November 2022 to reinforces the Armed Forces Covenant. It build on the Armed Forces Act 2006 with a requirement for Due Regard which is a reinforcement of the Covenant but with some differences.

For more information on what members this covers, visit The Armed Forces Act.


New Mental Health Support Available via NHS 111

Introduced on Monday 27 March 2023, callers in Kent can now call NHS 111 and have the option to press 2 on their keypad to access dedicated mental health support.

The aim is to ensure people experiencing mental distress or self-defined crisis can access the right service at the right time, reducing the pressure on the police and other emergency services. It can also be used by people who are seeking help or support for someone else such as a friend or family member.

If you are engaging with a member of the public who could benefit from using this service in future, please make them aware of the NHS 111 option 2 for mental health service.

Please continue to advise people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries to dial 999 and request the appropriate health service.

The NHS will use the period between now and the summer to monitor the introduction of the service, ahead of an official launch and wider promotion of the service.

If you have any questions about this new service, please contact KMCCG Mental Health.

How will the service work?

  • Once a caller has dialled 111 and selected option 2, they will be routed to one of two services:
  • The Kent and Medway Health Crisis Line: if the call relates to someone aged 18 or over; or,
  • North East London Foundation Trust’s (NELFT) single point of access: if the call relates to someone under the age of 18 and/or if they have an eating disorder.

Both services will enable the caller to speak with a trained mental health professional to be triaged and directed for onward assessment, treatment or advice.


Sussex Armed Forces Network Veteran Friendly GP Surgery

The Armed Forces Act 2021 names Veteran Friendly GP Practices as one of the relevant bodies that must show ‘Due Regard’ in line with the Covenant to the Armed Forces Community.

For more information on what an accredited GP practice means, visit The Sussex Armed Forces Network Veteran Friendly GP Practices.

Background

MKC Training supports our armed forces community in a number of ways, whether it is as an employer to reservists, veterans, cadet volunteers and/or partners or as a provider ensuring commissioned services understand the needs of this community.

MKC Training recognise the value, ethos and talents of veterans. At present we employ 40 members of staff who have prior military service, each of whom plays an integral part in transferring their skillset to our company providing the standards expected of an organisation that prides itself on the highest performance levels.

In July 2021, we reaccredited for the silver award as part of the Ministry of Defence's Employer Recognition Scheme


Visit the Armed Forces Covenant website
Forces Covenant Gold Award Logo

Forces Covenant Logo

Forces Covenant Silver Award 2021

MKC Training were awarded the Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award in 2021.

This is a national recognition of our coninued commitment to the Armed Forces.

The Armed Forces Covenant represents a promise by the nation that those who serve or have served, and their families, are treated fairly. All 407 local authorities in mainland Great Britain and 4 Northern Ireland councils have pledged to uphold the Armed Forces Covenant. To date over 4,000 organisations have signed the covenant, including businesses and charities. Contact us to learn more

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  • "Sue was an excellent trainer and a nice person to be trained by too. Clearly has a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of not only the course but the whole discipline."
    Joe, APM PMQ course
  • "The use of whiteboards, real time example, breakout room and attempting the questions after every topic was really helpful. The enthusiastic tutor, made the course better."
    Anon, PRINCE2 Agile course
  • "The ideas and techniques learned in the course has changed my vision towards project management. It taught me various methods which I can apply in my career. I managed to learn new aspects of management cycle which I was unaware of. The course was very useful to me."
    Pawan, PRINCE2 Agile course
  • "I thoroughly enjoyed the course and got a good deal of useful information from it. I have carried out projects throughout my career, and a few years ago took the APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ), but carried out projects using my own methods. PRINCE2 is great in that it sets out a methodology for carrying out project management, and is the most widely recognised in the UK. Adding agile was the icing on the cake."
    Lara, PRINCE2 Agile
  • "Dhaliwal Narinder our trainer was excellent, adding insights from her vast experience to enhance our learning. We have tried Agile and Project Management separately, now i have the opportunity to try both again in my Faculty. Receiving this course online whilst locked down was perfect."
    Kevin, PRINCE2 Agile course
  • "The course was interesting and interactive, though a lot of information needed to be crammed in and consumed. Having done an Agile course a few years ago, this course helped to reinforce what was previously learned and put a project management theme to it. The instructor was very knowledgeable and explained the theory very well. The other participants were engaging and helped make the course interesting through the sharing of question and answer sessions to the relationship of past experiences."
    Ted, PRINCE2 Agile course
  • Experienced and well qualified training staff provide excellent support and are committed to improving trainees' experience.
  • "The pass rate is delivering more competent well-rounded, 'turn their hand to anything' engineers. All of the main courses delivered by MKC achieve notably higher success rates than the corresponding courses delivered by either Further Education (FE) or private training providers'."
    KPMG
  • MKC is seen to be strongly in line with acknowledged approaches to good practice in vocational education and training.
    Dr A Lahiff University College London Institute of Education (IoE)
  • The Open & Honest partnering approach will save MoD an average of 25% on previous training costs.
    Babcock International
  • MKC significantly exceeds performance and has delivered a further £28M savings since the start of operations. Training losses have moved from 12% to 5%, trimming times down by 20%. Innovating and driving down costs.
  • "It was clear that our tutors were not only really skilled themselves, but they knew how to pass that on to others."
  • "Learners have a deeper understanding of their trades"
    Babcock
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