Celebrate older age on Armed Forces Day

This Saturday is Armed Forces Day 2022 , an event that offers people, communities, and organisations a chance to show support for all who serve, and have served, in our Armed Forces.   Celebrations have been ongoing all week, with flags raised on buildings and famous landmarks around the country.

If you are involved in a club, group or service that supports older people, or the Armed Forces community, you could use the day or week to send a message to older men and women who have served in HM Armed Forces; that you offer them appreciation, and a warm welcome. 

You could host a party, with bunting based on the Armed Forces Day flag (pictured). If you do social media, you can Tweet @ArmedForcesDay, or use hashtag #SaluteOurForces on Facebook.

In the UK someone is recognised as a veteran if they’ve completed at least one day’s pay and service in uniform, but older veterans sometimes don’t see themselves as such, assuming the term only applies to those who with long service or who have been deployed on a military operation.  Because of this, they can miss out on the wealth of extra support that’s available to them.  

So perhaps you could use the day as a conversation point, asking your group’s members if they have a connection with the Armed Forces, and if yes, what it means to them?  Veterans’ spouses, partners, widows, and widowers may also be entitled to extra help, so it’s worthwhile identifying them too.

To ensure older veterans you support, and their dependants, are aware of their rights and support entitlements, you can make use of Unforgotten Forces.  This is Scotland’s partnership to improve the wellbeing of older veterans aged 60 plus.  We offer a range of free advice guides for older veterans, a free magazine three times annually, and a handy Unforgotten Forces directory leaflet with service and contact details for our 17 partner charities.  Paper copies of all of these are free and can be ordered online here (scroll down the form to the ‘veterans’ section.)

If you, or others you work with (paid, or voluntary) would like to know more about older veterans and how to support them, you can read our online guide or, better yet, attend one of our free half day awareness raising workshops (the next one is on Tuesday, June 28 in Edinburgh).