We've been finding work for #exForces since 1885 and we're pretty darn good at it, too! as most of our Team are Ex Forces

Tell us why you chose to join RFEA?

After I left university I joined the Army for three years but suddenly found that I had been a career soldier for over 30 years. In that time I had served in numerous places with thousands of like-minded people. Some of the jobs I did and some of the places I served were tougher than others. But they all had one thing in common, you were serving with some fantastic people who were all committed to doing the job and achieving the aim, whatever the difficulties. So when the time came for me to leave the Army, what better job could there be than helping anyone who had ever served in the Armed Services find the right job and build a new career.

How has resettlement changed since you left the Army?

There have been huge changes in recent years and almost without exception they have been for the better. I would also like to think that RFEA has played a central role in bringing about and delivering these improvements. Five years ago there was essentially just one CTP programme, which provided resettlement help to anyone who had served for four years or longer. It was and still is a good programme, providing high quality resettlement advice and job finding support to many service leavers. But of course there were some big gaps in the help it provided. No extra help was provided to Wounded, Injured and Sick service leavers who often face significant additional obstacles to finding the right type of future career when they leave the Services. And no resettlement help whatsoever was given to Early Service Leavers (ESLs), despite the fact that they usually make up between 20 and 25% of those that leave the military each year and often need the greatest help.

So this is exactly where RFEA came into its own. Back in 2012 we led the work to establish and deliver the Future Horizons Programme to provide bespoke resettlement help to ESLs. I am also pleased to say that as a result of our work the programme was taken into the new CTP contract in 2015 and RFEA now delivers it as CTP Future Horizons.

Also in 2012 it became increasingly clear that although the wider support available to Wounded, Injured and Sick service personnel had improved hugely, the career and job finding help available through the CTP had not kept pace with the level or complexity of need. So I am pleased to say that the military charities working together stepped into the breach. With our friends in ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, Help for Heroes, Walking With the Wounded and the RAF Association we set up the Recovery Career Services (RCS). The key part of the RCS were a team of RFEA Specialist Employment Consultants deployed into the three Services’ Personnel Recovery Units to provide intensive employment case-working support to WIS service leavers as they transitioned out of the military. The RCS helped transform the lives of hundreds of WIS service leavers and put them on the road to a fulfilling future career. I am also very pleased to report that like Future Horizons the RCS was so successful that it was also taken into the new CTP contract in 2015; and that today RFEA’s Specialist Employment Consultants are delivering life changing help to WIS service leavers under the CTP Assist programme.

What’s your top piece of advice for service leavers?

I suppose I have two bits of advice. The first is that you will succeed! Whether you have served a full career, are an Early Service Leaver or anything in between, it’s inevitable that leaving the Services is a big step into the unknown. Naturally most people will worry about their future job prospects: will your skills be wanted and recognised by civilian employers; will I get a decent salary and the job satisfaction I got in the military. You should be reassured that each year between 10,000 and 20,000 people leave the Services and face this transition into civilian life. The really good thing is that the statistics definitively show that the vast majority of service leavers successfully make that transition and are happily employed in a new job and new career within a couple of months of leaving the Services. One of the other things RFEA does as part of the CTP is provide its Employer Engagement capability. Our national team of Regional Employer Relationship Managers works with thousands of employers across the UK to make high quality jobs available to Service Leavers and Veterans. They report that the skills and experience of ex-military people is in huge demand amongst employers. If you want to know more about the top quality jobs which are available on the RightJob website, you need to register either as part of your CTP resettlement or if you are a veteran register on the RFEA website.

The second piece of advice is to use everything the CTP has to offer. No other organisation provides anything like the comprehensive resettlement and employment support provided by the CTP. And of course it’s free and you can take advantage of it while you are still serving. It provides: Career Transition Workshops; personalised support and advice from Career Consultants and Employment Advisors; access to high quality training to help you acquire new skills or build on the ones you have gained in the military; access to world class on line career tools; specialist case-working support to those who need extra help; and of course that all important jobs board which in the last year had over 80,000 jobs for service leavers and veterans. What’s not to like!

Earlier you mentioned working with other charities, how important is that to RFEA?

The short answer to your question is that I think it is in our DNA. I mentioned the work we did with other charities a few years ago to develop and deliver the Recovery Career Services and Future Horizons Programme which are now part of the CTP’s resettlement service. Today we are involved in a wide range of programmes where we work closely with other charities. For example our Ex Forces Employment Programme for veterans is delivered on behalf of and with funding provided by ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and the RAF Benevolent Fund. Additional support is also provided by the Royal British Legion and Poppyscotland.

I must also highlight Project Nova, an early intervention programme designed to reduce re-offending amongst veterans who become involved in the criminal justice system. We deliver Project Nova in partnership with Walking With the Wounded and it is now operating across the East of England, the North West, North East and Yorkshire and Humberside.

I should also not forget the work we do providing specialist career advisors to Help for Heroes Recovery Centres; delivering specialist employment advice to veterans at risk of Homelessness as part of Walking With the Wounded’s Home Straight Programme; and the specialist employment case working support we provide to RAF Benevolent Fund’s Housing Trust tenants.

As I said cooperation is in RFEA’s DNA!

What’s the key to RFEA’s success?

That is a very good question which is actually very easy to answer – our people! RFEA employs over 110 staff across the UK who are delivering our programmes to our Service Leaver and Veteran clients. Many of our staff are themselves Veterans so they really understand the challenges which people face when they leave the military. We make sure that all of them have extensive experience of delivering effective services; and all of them have an appropriate professional qualification. But good people are more than qualifications and training – it’s about their commitment to the charity and the people we help. This is best captured in our values: we believe in: putting the client at the heart of what we do; changing lives for the better; working with other people and organisations; taking on challenges and difficult cases; and valuing everyone, whatever their background and needs.

Let me give of an example of how this really works. Our Central Support Team in Birmingham is the glue which holds all our programmes together. This Team’s client advisors, all of whom are qualified to NVQ Level 4 in Advice and Guidance, provide essential support to our CTP, veteran and Project Nova programmes. Amongst other things they provide client registration and initial assessment, client referral to appropriate help, job matching support to the RightJob jobs board, client outcomes tracking, and a telephone and web help desk for both clients and employers. Each year they help thousands of clients and are a key component of our success.

https://www.rfea.org.uk/about/