Cheshire Constabulary recognised with gold award

Cheshire Constabulary has gained further recognition for supporting the armed forces community.

It has been granted Gold Award status as part of the Ministry of Defence's Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).

This is one step further from when the Constabulary was awarded silver status in August 2021. To achieve that it needed to have fulfilled certain criteria, including signing the Armed Forces Covenant (AFC), pro-actively showing that ex-services personnel are not unfairly disadvantaged in its recruitment and selection processes, employ at least one individual from the AFC category that the nomination emphasises, and must not have been the subject of any negative PR or media activity.

Gold Awards are distributed during a prestigious national event. Once received, the Constabulary is able to display the Gold Award logo on its website and communications.

Chief Constable Mark Roberts said: "I am thrilled that the Constabulary's commitment to our serving military personnel, reservists and veterans has been recognised at the highest level. 

"As Chief Constable, I am very proud that our force is committed to supporting the military in every way we can, and my aim that is we are the employer of choice for those leaving the services."

Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire John Dwyer said: “It is an honour that the Constabulary has been awarded this accolade and I am extremely proud that the commitment shown to the armed forces community has been recognised with the Gold Award. 

“Cheshire Constabulary is committed to supporting those who have given their all to Queen and country and I am delighted with the hard work that has enabled the force to achieve this award.”

Armed Forces Liaison Officer Graham Evans added: "I am delighted that the Constabulary has been awarded this highest of accolades. 

“After receiving a call from Jan Cox, our contact at North West Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association, informing me of the award, I took great pride in telling the Chief that Cheshire Constabulary had received what I regard as appropriate recognition for its support of the Armed Forces Community.”

The ERS was designed primarily to recognise private sector support. However, public sector organisations such as the emergency services, local authorities, NHS trusts and executive agencies are also eligible to be recognised.

The scheme was launched to reward employers who support Defence People objectives and inspire others to do the same. This includes employing serving and former members of the armed forces community, and demonstrating flexibility towards training and mobilisation commitments for reservists and cadet force adult volunteers.

The awards recognise positive actions taken by organisations which help to ensure that members of the Armed Forces community are not unfairly disadvantaged during recruitment and are supported in the workplace.

The scheme encompasses bronze, silver and gold awards for employer organisations that pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to defence and the armed forces community, and align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant. The different award levels are indicative of different levels of commitment, with the ERS Gold award being the highest level of recognition an organisation can receive.

To receive the Gold Award, organisations must be nominated by a third party which recognises advocates for recruiting from the Armed Forces community and supporting its members.

To meet the Gold Award criteria, employers must:

• have received the Silver Award and continue to meet the Silver Award criteria.
• have an existing relationship with their local regional employer, engagement director or relevant defence representative
• proactively demonstrate their forces-friendly credentials as part of their recruiting and selection processes and, where possible, be engaged with the Career Transition Partnership in the recruitment of service leavers and have registered for the Forces Families Jobs portal
• be an exemplar within their market sector, advocating support to defence people issues to partner organisations, suppliers and customers with tangible positive results
• have demonstrated support to mobilisations or have a framework in place, within the context of Reserves, and provide at least 10 days’ additional leave for training, fully paid, to the Reservist employee.

Pictured - Cheshire Constabulary Armed Forces Liaison Officer Graham Evans and Cheshire Constabulary Chief Constable Mark Roberts at a recent flag raising event.