Services

Armed forces

Help for veterans and troops returning to civilian life or moving.

Moving to civilian life or a new place can be hard for veterans, troops, and families. This page offers advice and support. Argyll and Bute Council helps connect the armed forces with local communities.

We support the Ministry of Defence Firm Base initiative. This builds stronger bonds between councils and the military. We have a dedicated contact and will schedule regular meetings.

Read our brochure

Read our brochure on moving to civilian life. It offers practical advice and support. We help connect armed forces with local communities.

If you have any questions, please contact the Member Services Team memberservicesteam@argyll-bute.gov.uk in the first instance - please note that the brochure was accurate at time of printing.  

Welcoming our armed forces - information for serving personnel and veterans brochure >

Welcoming our Armed Forces families

Our leaflet for Armed Forces families explains schools, early learning, and childcare in Scotland. It helps you find and enroll in a local school.

Welcoming our Armed Forces - Information for families of serving personnel and veterans in the Helensburgh and Lomond area

Find out more about living in Argyll and Bute at ABplace2B.

Defence Employer Recognition Scheme

Employment

We make sure those who serve, have served, and their families are treated fairly.

We’re proud to have won the Silver Defence Employer Recognition Award. We work closely with the military and are an "Armed Forces Friendly" organisation.

As an employer, we understand that reservists may need time off to support the regular forces. We offer up to 15 days of paid leave each year for this. We also support employees who volunteer with the Cadet Force.

We know that military experience provides valuable skills. We encourage veterans to apply for jobs and consider all applications fairly, without discrimination.

We work with the Career Transition Partnership to help service members move into civilian jobs. We also appreciate the skills that our employees who are veterans bring to the council.

We value the confidence and skills that young people gain from being in the Cadets. We work with "Developing the Young Workforce in Argyll" to share these experiences and create opportunities for cadets to learn about the council.

We are happy to attend meetings or events to talk about our relationship with the Armed Forces and how we support the Armed Forces Covenant.

Training and Leadership Opportunities

We know that reservists, veterans, and cadets bring great skills to any organisation. By attending training days and camps, our employees get to learn about these skills and see how reservists help the military community.

Mini Stretch Days and Leadership Outreach Programmes

The council recognises the value that serving personnel, reservists, veterans and cadets bring to an organisation. In attending mini executive stretch days and weekend camps, employees are offered a unique opportunity to learn more about the transferable skills gained as well as the support offered by reservists to the forces community.

Our Commitment

To make sure we deliver on our commitment as an employer, we have pledged to:

  • Employ of veterans and reservists, working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and the Officers Association Scotland, to offer work placements and the opportunity of a pathway into working for the Council for service leavers
  • We endeavour to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment
  • Support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible
  • We will actively encourage other organisations within Argyll and Bute to promote supporting opportunities for the Armed Forces
  • We actively participate and host Armed Forces Day on an annual basis
  • We will support and encourage the employment of Reservists, Veterans and their families, ensuring that they are not disadvantaged when it comes to application procedures
  • We will offer support to our local cadet units where appropriate
  • We will actively work with the Highland Reserve Forces and Cadet Association
  • We will explore the establishment of an Armed Forces Network and employee Veteran focus group

Helpful Resources:

 Help us improve our website by giving us your feedback in our short survey 

Did you find what you were looking for?

Why wasn't this information helpful

Limit to 250 characters.