Council marks Armed Forces Week - and gains Silver in MOD’s Employer Recognition Scheme

To mark the lead up to Armed Forces Day on 27 June, Staffordshire Moorlands’ Chairman, Councillor Linda Malyon has helped raise the Armed Forces flag at Moorlands House in Leek.

The ‘Fly the Flag for our Armed Forces’ event was held earlier today at the start of Armed Forces Week. The Chairman was joined by the Deputy Lieutenant, Judy Scott-Moncrieff, representatives from the local Royal British Legion, the Chairman’s Chaplain Reverend Arthur Hack, fellow councillors, town mayors in the Moorlands and children from Leek First School in Leek and St Leonard’s C of E School in Ipstones.

Armed Forces Week is a national campaign to build public understanding and support for the Armed Forces community, regulars, reserves, veterans, cadets, cadet adult volunteers and military families.  

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence has announced that Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has achieved the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Silver Award for 2026, recognising its sustained commitment to supporting the armed forces community.

The ERS Silver Award celebrates employers who are actively creating supportive environments for Reservists, veterans, the Cadet movement and military families. These organisations demonstrate that support for Defence is not simply symbolic, but embedded within workplace culture, policies and leadership.

Councillor Bill Cawley is the Cabinet Member for Communities and Armed Forces Champion. He said about the recognition:

“We have done a lot to support our veterans in recent years, so to get the Silver recognition is extremely welcome. Although a largely rural area, we have over 3,200 veterans locally and so have been determined to support our `band of brothers and sisters`.

“Indeed, it was a pleasure to meet some of them at a veterans’ wellbeing event we held recently. That initiative follows other actions we have put in place.

“They include training our staff to recognise the needs of veterans, supporting cadet detachments, councillors using their allocated funding to support local cadet units, guaranteeing veterans a job interview if they meet the job criteria, marking Armed Forces Day and Remembrance Sunday, creating a grant scheme for parishes and towns to mark last year’s VE and VJ Day commemorations, and commissioning a play about Frank Hammersley of Leek - the last person to be killed in the world wars, locally.

“Gaining this recognition is really encouraging and will help us build on what we have achieved so far.”

Photographs

1. The gathering for the flag raising ceremony at Moorlands House in Leek today (22 June)
2. Logo for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Silver Award