The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) was delighted to sponsor the AFF Big Debate 2014 which took place on 21st October in London. The conference was aimed at anybody with a soldier in their life, and offered attendees the opportunity to find out more about the future of the Army and how changes will affect Army families.
The event provided plenty of opportunity for question and answer sessions with senior Army personnel, civil servants and other experts, along with a ‘Jobs and more’ fair, in which the CTP were on hand to provide resettlement advice, together with organisations including Skanska, X-Forces, Asda, Sorted and HSBC.
The first presentation of the day was on the Forces Help to Buy Scheme, which was launched this year. This initiative enables serving personnel (with at least 6 months left to serve) to borrow up to 50% of their salary, interest free over 10 years in order to purchase a UK property. Further information can be found here.
Just some of those sitting on the Q&A panel throughout the event included Lieutenant General Gerry Berragan, the Adjutant General, Catherine Spencer, AFF Chief Executive, Mike Cooper, Director, Directorate Children and Young People and Anna Soubry, Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans. A wide range of topics were covered and debated, including pensions, the ebola virus, childcare, housing, flexible working conditions and overseas allowances, to name just a few.
Presentations were also made by X-Forces, which supports ex-forces and their families to start up businesses by providing them with loans, mentoring and support, and General Sir Nick Carter, Chief of the General Staff, who spoke about positioning the Army for the future.
During the event, Enterprise Rent-a-Car was awarded the AFF Employer of the Year Award and the University of Wolverhampton was awarded the AFF Community Award for its ‘Supporting the Unsung Hero’ programme, an initiative aimed at Service dependents and run by former Service leaver Lianne Bradbury.
CTP was delighted to be one of the sponsors at the event, and had a great day speaking to families, serving personnel and other stakeholders about the resettlement support on offer to Service leavers.
View the AFF website for further information on the issues affecting Army families.