Armed Forces Community Roundtable Event – 29th January 2026

Building Collaborative, Co-operative Solidarity for Positive Change

On Thursday the 29^th of January, several members of the Active Plus team drove up to the China Fleet Country Club in Saltash to deliver a dynamic Armed Forces Community Roundtable event. This poignant event built on the legacy of National Armed Forces Day 2023, continuing the momentum generated across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to improve outcomes for our Armed Forces Community.

Background information

The Armed Forces Community have a unique set of, often complex, needs which, combined with the geography and economy of Cornwall, add challenges around health, housing, finance and isolation. Recent statistics highlight the need for ongoing service provision that is reliable and trusted by beneficiaries.

In 2021, the Census captured information on Veterans for the first time. 30,229 people (6.3%) in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly and 65,142 people in Devon (6.2%) reported that they had previously served in the Armed Forces. This is significantly higher than the England average of 3.8%

Cornwall Council Public Health conducted a health needs assessment highlighting inequalities experienced by the Veteran community. Ex-service personnel are more likely to present with complex healthcare needs.

Why a Roundtable Event?

Although pockets of varying support are in place – and despite the fantastic efforts individual initiatives are going to with honourable intentions – many are short term, temporary, sporadic, and disjointed at best. Many veterans are simply not receiving adequate assistance throughout their transition into Civilian life, given sufficient practical help for daily living, or championed for their innate value to society and business. Pooling ideas, support and real-life experience together is the only true way to make positive and pragmatic changes for the better.

Our Managing Director, Laura Truckle, has the drive and passion to make this happen and, along with Veteran Coordinator and Operations Manager, Chris Kent – and other team members – she set out to take action, and “move the needle” in terms of shaping the Veteran – and wider Armed Forces Community – Support – as a cooperative collective.

Introducing the Armed Forces Community Roundtable Events

Active Plus, supported by Cornwall Council Public Health – are working towards the provision of consistent, cohesive, support for the Armed Forces Community through proficient connection, shared lived experience, and systemic collaboration. It was therefore deemed appropriate to host a series of roundtable events. We felt this to be the perfect discussion-based forum which would provide a safe space to discuss, as equals, the complex challenges surrounding the Armed Forces Community with other organisations.

Phase One of this ambitious mission involves delivering four Roundtable Events in four locations, focusing on the needs of the Armed Forces Community.

The objective of the events is to connect a range of organisations to our Armed Forces Community (Including representatives from the NHS, Public Health, Members of Parliament, Local Authorities, Emergency Services, Ministry of Defence and the Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise sector), addressing one set of consistent themes with four key sectors (Key Sectors include Professionals and key stakeholders; Those with lived experience including Veterans and wider Armed Forces Community; Serving personnel and their families at RNAS Culdrose; Serving personnel and their families at The Royal Citadel, Plymouth).

The aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of members of the Armed Forces Community through better identification, systemic changes, and stronger collaboration across organisations.

The First Roundtable Event – Saltash

Delivered in partnership with Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Public Health, January’s roundtable – the first of the four – brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including professionals, Veterans, serving personnel, and family members. Our aim was to create a shared space where we could explore what is currently working well, identify areas where gaps persist, and collaboratively shape a more cohesive and effective support system.

The programme featured facilitated discussions, a keynote address, and a marketplace showcasing organisations dedicated to supporting the Armed Forces Community. It served as an excellent opportunity for all attendees to network, share best practice, and build partnerships with others committed to driving meaningful, system-wide change.

There were around 65 delegates from multiple sectors, including several key figures including but not exclusive to,

• Lt Cdr Nick Sharland MBE of HMS Raleigh,
• Veteran Ambassador Mark Ormrod (from Royal Marines Charity/ReORG/Kaizen Summit),
• High Sheriffs Geraint Richards (Cornwall) and Caroline Harlow, (Devon), and
• NHS representative, Helen Hurst (Independent Healthcare Providers and Hospices, NHS Veteran Aware Programme).

We were also delighted to be joined by the Video Production Team at Chaos, and local illustrator, Elly Jahnz, who will be providing a visual representation of the event; the result of which will be seen in the coming weeks!

How did it go?

From the moment people began arriving at the venue, the atmosphere was buzzing with enthusiasm and promise. Professionals and prominent figures came from far and wide to be part of the discussion, which was built around engaging activities based on five key themes.

For each theme, a facilitator delivered an activity station (you guessed it, around a round table!) and the attendees, who had been assigned group numbers upon arrival, participated in the themed activities on a rotation basis. Even the enthusiasm circulated!

The themes forming the structure of the day included:

1 Mental Health & Suicide Prevention

2. Current Provision and Longevity of Funding

3. Employment, Skills and Employer’s Responsibilities –

4. Changing Demographics and Needs

5. Armed Forces Families

The themes helped identify common barriers faced by the Armed Forces Community and provided the perfect catalyst for generating ideas on how best to support the Armed Forces Community within Cornwall and beyond.

An Audience with Mark Ormrod MBE

We were honoured to be joined by former Royal Marine, Invictus Games athlete, author, entrepreneur, husband and father of three, and motivational speaker, Mark Ormrod MBE, who – after triggering an improvised explosive device during a routine foot patrol in 2007 – suffered serious injuries resulting in a triple amputation. Mark – who is equal parts captivating, engaging, entertaining, energising, and influential – is the personification of resilience and is certainly well placed to offer comment and share thoughts on the support received by veterans now and throughout his own experience.

Understandably Mark’s talk was extremely well received and presented an inspiring reminder as to why having the correct help at the right time is crucial for a veteran’s survival and lays the foundation for transition into civilian life.

Mark, who is “always looking for the next challenge”, is driven to succeed, break down boundaries, and optimise physical and mental capabilities.

Mark admonished the audience to galvanise the passion and purpose within the room, and to understand and channel the unique mindset amongst the Armed Forces Community. He also stressed the need for initiatives and organisations to abolish competition as that only dilutes the impact of the support and serves to cause further adversity; albeit often inadvertently.

Many agreed, with feedback comments calling for,

“A more joined up approach, with less ‘ownership’ of beneficiaries and support that is linear and person/family centred…”

The current provisions were acknowledged while the notion that a ‘one size fits all approach’ is ineffective,

“There’s a lot of support available, but it often misses the people who most need it. ‘Better’ ways of finding those in need would be a great outcome of this Roundtable event.”

We could not agree more!

Where Active Plus Stands

The day was an effective way of highlighting how the Active Plus provision sits within this Armed Forces Community support network.

Active Plus place wounded, injured and sick Veterans at the heart of positive change for the whole community​, always working with the premise that we help ourselves by helping others.

Our Veteran Instructors are Inspirational role models delivering group and tailored one-to-one provision. ​We are acutely conscious of the need for – and importance of – lived experience and peer to peer support​, and in addition to using the skills, experience and expertise of injured and retired military veterans to deliver unique programmes that build confidence, improve motivation, generate a sense of belonging and self-worth, we have developed and refined provision specifically for the Armed Forces Community​.

Crucially, we want to reach those that need help the most, provide the practical assistance, while supporting such ones as we help them to unlock and fulfil their potential.

Throughout this entire process, we are acutely conscious of the need for flexibility, discretion, patience, understanding, empathy, and a solid knowledge of what life as a veteran or Armed Forces Community member involves – while remaining approachable, relatable, reasonable and resilient.

Armed Forces Social Prescribing

The Roundtable event also served as an opportunity to showcase the successful impact our AFC Social Prescriber Link Worker service has on the local Armed Forces Community.

Cornwall saw social prescribing introduced in 2018 with NHSE introducing a Demonstrator programme offering bespoke Armed Forces Community Social Prescribing in 2021. ​

In January 2024, Active Plus began delivering a 3 year Armed Forces Community Social Prescribing service funded by Cornwall Council.

The crucial elements to the service – that aid trusted working relationships and prompt positive outcomes – are the localised approach and the fact it is delivered in the community by Veterans with lived experience. It is a support model that works.

The purpose of the service is to provide a holistic approach for the whole Armed Forces Community irrespective of service, rank or status, with Veterans and the wider AFC utilising the service. ​

This involves delivering a range of support varying from housing and health to finance and employment. Often with a complex blend of needs.​

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust ran a consultation of need in 2023 finding that the primary need for Veterans was mental health support followed by social isolation. At a local level, this finding is reversed highlighting the unique challenges associated with rural and coastal communities.​

One of many noteworthy comments made by one of our attendees was,

“…although serving personnel and their families appear resilient, much of that resilience exists within the military context, where a strong and structured support network surrounds them. Once individuals transition out of service and that support falls away, some understandably find the adjustment far more challenging…”

An insightful and valuable observation. The same contributor states,

“…If we want to see truly resilient veterans, we need to start building those life‑skills and coping strategies earlier in their military careers to better prepare them for life beyond uniform.”

Without this event, it is unlikely we would have ever had the chance to delve into such topics with the relevant audience. Input such as this certainly needs to be shared and used as a springboard for support development.

A Summary

There were many open, interesting and varied conversations within the conference room, all of which served to unearth the positives, negatives, gaps within services, areas for improvement, shared experiences, and varied perspectives from a diverse group of engaging skilled professionals and key figures.

We were delighted to hear that others felt the same and noted similarly,

“…we genuinely valued the conversations and the openness in the room. The quality of discussion and collaboration was clear, even in the time we were there.”

“It was encouraging to see such a committed group focused on practical outcomes for the Armed Forces Community, and we’re grateful to have been included.”

The buzz in the room was electric, and the enthusiasm palpable. The golden thread of the event was passion, purpose, and powerful messages. Solidarity evident.

The response from attendees has been vast with much overwhelmingly positive. Feedback has highlighted the potential need for regular meetings to address the challenges as they appear.

Many were heard saying that they didn’t know what to expect but they gained a lot from the day and had lots of interesting and constructive conversations.

“Thank you very much…for the opportunity to attend last week’s Roundtable event. I found the day extremely informative and genuinely interesting. It also reinforced a view I have held for some time”

“Thanks again for last week, I really enjoyed myself and was great to see you and your colleagues in action, I was in awe of what you do.”

We were also reassured and informed by the assessment of the facilitation methods as well as the practical elements of the day.

“Thank you very much for inviting me to attend the event yesterday. I really enjoyed the day, it was well-organised and the different facilitation methods on each table drew out a wealth of insight. The key speakers were great with a good balance of honesty, inspiration and call to action.”

We are always grateful for logistical suggestions and strive to learn from each event.

Whilst the Armed Forces Community’s needs are ever changing, they are undoubtedly relentless and ongoing and deserve a collaborative approach to secure appropriate, evolving support.

We can all recognise that support is vital, the needs and challenges are here to stay, and the crucial mission is to establish the way forward in the most effective way possible…together.

The collective input on the day was invaluable and will be carefully collated and analysed in the upcoming weeks so that actionable steps can be put into place, and achievable targets established.

Whilst there was a feeling of frustration surrounding the stagnancy and subsequent ineffectiveness of the current support provision,

“Some things haven’t changed”-Mark Ormrod MBE

…there were also an obvious optimism and strong sense of purpose whereby those present on the day felt determined to navigate and facilitate change within their area of specialism and responsibility. It is not an easy feat, and progress is unlikely to be linear…but nothing is impossible.

A Pledge

At the end of the day, attendees were invited to pledge how they planned to help improve support for the Armed Forces Community. This involved physically writing these pledges and hanging them on the Armed Forces Community family trees. Not only was this an engaging task that demanded consideration of realistic goals, it was also a dazzling visual representation of the unity and team spirit present.

The pledges were vast and varied in their nature. Examples of pledges made include,

“I pledge to continue collaborating and leading with kindness and clarity.”

“…to continue with our work to support the youngest children of both serving and veteran families – beyond our funded project.”

“Contact and form connections with business card contacts [gathered from networking at the roundtable event].”

“Look to make sustainable partnerships to support the Covenant and support serving and veteran personnel but, more importantly, work to support military families.”

“Work more together and show even more people what we can do to help.”

“I pledge to work in cooperation with all the service providers to the armed forces community.”

“Consider whether/how Armed Forces Communities are represented in or differently impacted by all research projects we are involved in.

The event proved to be a success in terms of how it brought together an array of influential organisations and impressed the gravity of the need for substantial, flexible, and appropriate support packages for all those in the Armed Forces Community – young and old.

As one attendee states,

“It was great to hear/see the appetite for greater multi-agency coordination/support and collaborative working. It will be interesting to see how many organisations take this forward.”

One thing is certain, the onus is on us all as service leaders, to deliver sustainable and effectual change. We are looking forward to working with many other organisations to realise this, and address the kaleidoscopic nature of the demographic.

An Invitation, a Thank You, and a Resolution

We invite all businesses and organisations to join the Armed Forces Covenant and Defence Employment Recognition Scheme to commit to providing fair, equal and informed support to employees and colleagues from the Armed Forces Community, whilst providing recognition of the unique skillset and innate value that Armed Forces Community members bring.

We would like to thank all those who gave their time, energy and area of expertise to the Roundtable event. There is no doubt, your contribution was vital, appreciated, and noteworthy.

We already look forward to the next Roundtable where we will be inviting members of the wider public to join the discourse.

Active Plus are committed to keeping the dialogue around the specific needs surrounding the Armed Forces Community open, resolved to endeavour to facilitate change, alongside delivering pragmatic and practical support for the growing number in need within Cornwall.

Blog: Suzanne Body, Active Plus

Photo Credit: Peter Blyth, Active Plus