Fareham council backs campaign to highlight struggle of ex-service personnel

A COUNCIL have backed a charity campaign to raise awareness of the struggles of ex-servicemen and woman.
Veterans at a remembrance service at Holy Trinity Church in Fareham  in 2014Veterans at a remembrance service at Holy Trinity Church in Fareham  in 2014
Veterans at a remembrance service at Holy Trinity Church in Fareham in 2014

Fareham Borough Council joined Hampshire County Council on Thursday night in supporting the Royal British Legion’s ‘Count Them In’ campaign.

The campaign involves lobbying the Office for National Statistics to ask more questions in the 2021 UK consensus that gather more data on former servicemen and women around the country and to be able to know which of them may need support.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

According to the charity, the current questions asked in the consensus do not provide accurate details about the circumstances of current servicemen and women.

Councillor Roger Price proposed the motion for the borough council to back the call.

He said: ‘I want to make sure that we find out how many current and ex-servicemen and women we have in the area and that if they need support, that we make sure we can help them.

‘Local authorities are supposed to look after their ex-service personnel so we need to know what their needs are.’

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The motion was unanimously passed during the full council meeting.

It follows Hampshire County Council backing the plans last week.

Bruce Holborn, local campaign manager for the Royal British Legion (RBL) said: ‘It’s great to have the support of a council like Fareham support us as it is likely that there are lots of ex-service personnel in the area and some of them may really need our help.

‘It is very difficult with the current consensus to know how many people are out there so hopefully this campaign will do the trick.’

To join RBL’s campaign, head to http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/count-them-in/ to pledge your support.