Community Engagement is the process whereby Military units work closely with organisations and individuals in their immediate environment in order to establish and maintain links with the local communities and Canterbury College pledge to support this initiative.
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As the Armed Forces were being reduced in size, with the closure of some bases and increased security concerns from the 70s onwards, it meant that fences were erected around the remainder. Consequently, Servicemen and women in uniform became a less common sight in public places. The increased tempo of overseas operations in the 90s became the main focus of the Armed Forces, which meant that less attention was paid to our links to local communities. However, the Servicemen and women and their families remained a crucial part of the local communities and it is now recognised that there is a need to re-energize the links with the community, both locally and nationally.
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Headquarters 2 (South East) Brigade, based in Folkestone, sees Community Engagement as one of its key tasks; where they want to actively develop our interaction with local government, the community, businesses, schools and youth groups, hence they fully support the Community Covenant with Canterbury College in January 2012.
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It is their wish to:
- Improve the “Soldier's lot”, equally for the single and married service personnel.
- Enhance employer support for Reservists and their families.
- Maintain the Army's reputation.
- Integrate with the local community, including schools and colleges.
- Support recruiting for Regular and Reserve personnel.
- Support UK Operations; the assistance to civil authorities during times of national emergencies.
On 19 January 2012 Canterbury College became the first further education college in the UK to sign an Armed Forces Community Covenant with the Commanding Officers of the army regiments based in Canterbury. The Covenant, however, relates to all the armed services across East Kent and aims to foster closer relationships between service personnel, their families and the communities in which they live and work.
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In order to support the Community Engagement Team in achieving their aims, an action plan has been implemented which sets out how this work will be taken forward by Canterbury College and forms the basis for progress reporting to the Civilian Military Partnership Board, Canterbury College’s governing body and to the Military.
The action plan will be reviewed annually and performance against it evaluated formally by September each year. The quarterly and annual outcomes will be reported in relation to the following key performance indicators which underpin the Covenant:
- Improved communication between the College and the Armed Forces.
- Maximised positive awareness raising of the Armed Forces via covenant activity.
- Evidence of and tangible impacts as a result of collaborative and joint working.
- Active engagement with and benefits to the Armed Forces communities (families).
- Skills exchange and mutual support between College and Armed Forces personnel.
- Beneficial impacts to Canterbury College students through covenant linked activity.
- Improved training and educational opportunities for Service personnel and families.
- Additional funding / grant / charitable resources resulting from the covenant.
The Community Engagement Officers
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This wide range of activity is supported by many agencies and organizations and there are already strong links in place for much of what we hope to achieve. To facilitate this, the Army have established a Community Engagement Team within the Headquarters at Folkestone to act as a focal point. Public support means a great deal to those who are serving and particularly so to those on operations and being support from home is an essential part of the morale of our Armed Forces deployed overseas amid the stresses and strains of the operational environment.
The Army is very proud of its relationship with Canterbury College and we are very proud to support our local Armed Forces.
