A Rainbow of Remembrance
Each November we remember the sacrifices made by those who have served in HM Forces on Armistice Day - Friday 11th - and Remembrance Sunday on the 13th.
Age Scotland is proud to coordinate Unforgotten Forces, a partnership of 18 leading charities dedicated to boosting the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s ex-service community aged 60 and older. This experience has also opened our eyes to the diversity of that community.
Take our newest partner, Fighting With Pride. It champions ex-service personnel who are also part of the LGBT+ community, many of whom were treated harshly and unfairly prior to the ending of the Armed Forces ban on homosexuality in 2000.
Thanks to Fighting With Pride and other campaigners, that injustice is beginning to be put to rights – last year LGBT+ veterans were able to openly join the march to the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.
But the legacy of hurt remains, so we’re delighted that Fighting With Pride now has a Community Worker in Scotland, Dougie Morgan, (photographed above) who is there to provide support. You can find out more about support for older LGBT+ ex-service personnel in our advice guide for them.
Earlier this month Unforgotten Forces held its Autumn Gathering conference in Perth. Susie Hamilton, the newly appointed Scottish Veterans Commissioner, was one of our keynote speakers, and the afternoon explored the experiences and support needs of older ex-service women.
Academics from Robert Gordon University, for whom this is a research focus, told us that 11% of the UKs 2.5 million ex-service personnel are women, and that being a ‘minority of a minority’ they are too often overlooked.
We heard that many of these women don’t appreciate they are ‘veterans’ and so can miss out on additional help and support available to them. We also learned that some had particularly harsh experiences during service, including 51% saying they had experienced sexual assault.
The next issue of Unforgotten Forces magazine, out in January 2023, will include a feature on support for older ex-service women and an interview with Fighting With Pride’s Dougie Morgan. You can subscribe to the magazine for free, in either print or electronic format, here.
