The Veterans Awards

Rewarding Veterans, Serving Reservists, those companies that employ from our community and organisations that support us in the areas of Business, Fitness, Sport and the wider Community!

In support of The Army Benevolent Fund, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and Little Troopers.

The Veterans Awards are a Not for Profit Organisation that promotes the positives from the Veteran and Military Community and those organisations that support us. It’s been put together by Veterans for Veterans in what has become our home nations national awards with three separate award ceremonies taking place in England, Scotland and Wales, we also support the Northern Irish Awards. 2023 saw the introduction of the first Service children awards in Wales in support of the charity Little Troopers.  During our awards evenings we fundraise for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity alongside the Army Benevolent Fund and Little Troopers.  Any money above and beyond costs is then distributed via a small grants scheme to smaller CIC’s and Charities who work at grass routes level within the veterans community and have a turnover of under 100k per annum! 

This year has seen our organisation promote and showcase so many positive individuals and organisations that are doing great things within our community, we have issued grants to multiple Charitable Organisations that support our community across the UK, some of these grants were issued for events that bring veterans and their families together, health and well-being training and also supporting local breakfast hubs that are the beating heart of our community. 

Our running total including donations, from our Auctions, raffles and our grant giving is sat at a fantastic

£48,074.65

Thank you for everyone who supports our Awards, from sponsors, attendees, nominators, donators to finalists you are all really making a difference to our community!

The Army Benevolent Fund is the Army’s national charity, here for soldiers, past and present, and their families for life

The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity is the Principle Charity of the Royal Navy. The Charity Exists to support Sailors, Marines and their families for life!

Little Troopers is a registered charity supporting all military children who have parent(s) serving in our British Armed Forces, regular or reserve.

Our Veterans Awards team are fully committed to supporting our Veteran Community. We celebrate the success and inspiring stories from our community by promoting them via our social media channels, networks and fantastic  media partners that include Pathfinder International Magazine and Eyes Front Magazine.

We have a Board of Directors and an Inspirational panel in place who operate in a voluntary capacity to run Veterans Awards CIC, ensuring all money raised above project costs goes back into our Veteran Community and is used to improve services or to run projects that will help our Veterans and our Community.

In the UK, we have a huge number of highly successful Armed Forces Veterans that have made the transition from the Military to civilian life and we want to reward these veterans who have gone above and beyond and excelled in their relevant fields. They will act as role models for future service leavers. We want to find the people who even during the most difficult periods have excelled!

As such, we feel they should be given every opportunity to highlight their achievements and success, which is why the awards and our other projects have been created.

The Veterans Awards are open to all our Military Veterans that are doing great things in the UK, Reservists that are going above and beyond and those companies that go the extra mile to support or recruit from our community!

If you are a Company or Organisation that wish to become one of our Partners or Sponsors at our Awards or projects please feel free to get in touch. We have a number of fantastic companies that currently support us and we are so thankful to them because without these companies we wouldn’t be able to do what we do! We will ensure we work with you and your team or building a strong relationship and partnership.  To get in touch or find out more click here

If you have a positive story or journey please get in touch and we are happy to promote it via our social media sites through our media team!

Remember it’s you that will act as a role models for future service leavers!

CIC Registration  number: 12249389

Kieran Hackney – Forces Fitness Ltd   

Kieran is a military veteran that served in the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, he now works for Forces Fitness delivering inspiring Health and well-being sessions within the education sector, Sports Teams and businesses across the UK!

He is very much looking forward to the event and seeing all these amazing people  being recognized for the great work they do!

Millie Taylor – SSCE Cymru Programme Manager

Supporting Service Children in Education Wales (SSCE Cymru) has a mission to provide the best possible educational support to Service children in Wales. SSCE Cymru is a Welsh Government funded programme, managed by the Welsh Local Government Association.

Established in 2014, SSCE Cymru works with all 22 local authorities across Wales to provide schools and other educational settings with a better understanding of how they can offer support to the children of Armed Forces personnel living in Wales.

Millie took over managing the SSCE Cymru programme at the beginning of 2018, with a focus on setting strategic goals and a mission that would expand the support available to Service children in Wales. As an advocate for Service children, Millie is always keen to speak with them directly and has coordinated activities to involve Service children in the work of SSCE Cymru. Millie has created many opportunities for collaboration in Wales and is always keen to share good practice with organisations across the UK.

Ged Murphy – Head of Concepts – General Dynamics UK  

As a veteran, Ged served across the spectrum of operations with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers before Battalion command with The Royal Welsh. Ged uses his operational and leadership experience to advise on emerging operational trends whilst providing a focus for all Armed Forces and Veterans matters. He has led the business to success as Gold Award holders in recognition of GD UK’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant, whilst promoting the social impact that the business and the defence sector has within the community.

Ged is active across the community, supports veterans in transition and has organised numerous money raising events for a number of military and community based charities. He was successfully nominated by his colleagues for the Veteran Leader Award Wales in 2023. Ged is the proud father of Joe (17) and Pete (13) and loves spending time in the hills with his boys whenever he can!

Sarah Court – Specialist Teacher, Vulnerable Groups – Powys County Council

Sarah Court, who lives near Brecon, started her teaching career 30 years ago and during her time, she developed her teaching and leadership skills through a variety of teaching, senior leadership and advisory roles in the UK and around the world.  Sarah spent eleven years working for Service Children’s Education for the British Armed Forces in Germany and the rest of the world.

She currently leads the Powys County Council’s Vulnerable Groups Team, supporting schools, pupils and families from minority ethnic and Armed Forces backgrounds. She moved to Wales over five years ago and was previously part of the Supporting Service Children in Education (SSCE) Cymru team, working across Local Authorities and Schools in Wales and played an instrumental part in developing the new SSCE Cymru website and information. During the ‘Month of the Military child’ she worked with groups of Service children, creating pictures and poems, linked to the theme ‘ Friends near and far’. Some of these poems were winners in a national competition and were awarded their certificates and prizes at the Ministry of Defence building London, a great achievement. Working alongside the Welsh Rugby Union engagement team, Sarah has also developed well-being sessions in schools for Service children, using wheelchair rugby activities.

She is very privileged to be asked to be a judge at the first Service Children’s Awards and is amazed by the achievements that all Service children make with their learning, sport and well-being despite the challenges that they may face. Sarah is excited to able to celebrate their successes with the Armed Forces community in Wales.

Kelly Farr – Director – YourNorth 

Kelly is an award-winning entrepreneur, wellbeing trainer and veteran, with 17 years service in the Royal Air Force as an Avionics Engineer. Kelly is the co-founder of YourNorth, a wellbeing training company focusing on mental health, mindset, communication, mindfulness & happiness. Kelly is also the co-founder of YourNorth Veteran Support CIC, a not-for-profit organisation offering tailored wellbeing services for the Armed Forces community & Emergency Services.

She is very active in the community as a volunteer and co-runs Caerphilly Veterans Support Hub, and sits on the board for VAPC (Wales). Kelly also co-runs the Female Veterans Alliance; a community organisation that aims to empower and support females that have served in the UK Armed Forces.

Kelly is a huge advocate for the Armed Forces community and is so grateful for the opportunity to be involved with the Service Children Awards Cymru. She has 2 daughters, aged 14 & 4, so appreciates and understands the incredible qualities displayed by this amazing cohort.

Andy Jones –  Armed Forces Liaison Officer  – Powys County Council 

I joined the Army at the age of 16 and served in the Welsh Guards, my service included the Falkland Islands Conflict in 1982. After leaving the Armed Forces I worked in HM Prison Service mainly in London and Cardiff but incorporating being a National Instructor for Prison Staff across England and Wales. Finally ending up on secondment into the Probation Service in Wales developing an ‘all Wales’s support structure for ex Armed Service Personnel  who had come into the Justice system.

I took up the post of Armed Forces Liaison Officer (AFLO) in Powys in March 2020 just in time for the covid outbreak. All 22 Local Authorities in Wales are covered by 7 AFLO’S who promote and assist in the execution and delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant including the new Armed Forces Bill 2021.

Having worked closely with the delivery of support for Service Children in the Local Authority I fully appreciate the work that is needed and am encouraged by their fantastic commitment. It is an honour to be a part of the judging panel in the Service Children Awards.

The Veterans Awards are proud to announce our shortlisted Finalists for this years Service children Awards Cymru in partnership with SSCE Cymru. The awards are due to be held at the Infantry Battle School Brecon on the 28th October in Support of Little Troopers and Sponsored by Powys County Council.

Well done to everyone who has been shortlisted as finalists. We had a large number of applications / nominations and the shortlisting process was extremely difficult. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who put forward nominations.

We want to Inspire our Community that great things can happen. Its you who will act as role models and in some cases mentors, remember Positivity breeds Positivity.

Our Finalists are :

Contribution to Sport under 11  -Sponsored by Forces Fitness Ltd

Contribution to Sport over 11 – Sponsored by Forces Fitness Ltd

The Service Children Ambassador of the year  – Sponsored by Powys County Council 

The Community Award Under 11 – Sponsored by Your North

The Community Award Over 11 – Sponsored by Your North

Unsung Hero Award – Sponsored by General Dynamics 

The Winners will be chosen by our Independent Judging Panel. The Judging panels names and profiles will be released over the coming weeks.

All our Shortlisted Finalists / Supporters have the opportunity to secure your tickets between  19th September – 1st October.

We will also be holding a raffle on the day for the fantastic charity Little Troopers so please bring along cash for raffle tickets!!

For more details please get in touch.

Mr Jon Carter (JC) – Head of Capability Growth and Business Development CXC Group

JC joined Company X Consulting following an 18 year career working in the MoD. Although JC has a civilian background, he has worked closely with the armed forces throughout his career in both the public and private sector. Since joining CXC as a consultant in 2018, JC has risen to Head of Capability Growth and Business Development. Over the last 24 months JC and the CXC team have provided transitional support to over 10% of all service leavers, providing free advice and guidance for those who are looking to take a step into consultancy as a career path. This support to veterans, wider veteran causes, and as an employer of over 90% veterans, have seen CXC achieve Armed Forces Covenant Gold status.

Sue Dorney MCTHA, Strongmind Resiliency Training 

Sue is a British Army veteran, where she served as an Experimental Assistant in Gunnery. She is the Co-founder and Director of Strongmind Resiliency training with over 30 years of experience in business administration and project management. During the first Gulf War in 1991 she was an Assistant Casualty Visiting Officer. Making her very familiar with the stresses experienced by people particularly those in public services.

Sue is really looking forward to meeting all the inspirational people at the Veterans Awards night!

Jack Dickinson – Solicitor, Hugh James 

I am a military solicitor at Hugh James, based at our head office in Cardiff. I specialise in providing legal representation and legal services for veterans and currently serving members of the armed forces.

I am also involved with various groups in the veterans community, and fundraising for key veterans charities.

Hugh James have proudly sponsored the Veterans Awards since 2019, and I have seen the awards grow from strength to strength. I look forward to meeting all the finalists and celebrating the difference they have made,

and their incredible achievements after transitioning to civilian life.

Guy Williams, Volunteer for the Veterans Advisory Pensions Committee South West, Facilities for Wessex RFCA

Guy Williams works for the Wessex Reserve Forces and Cadets Association and a member of the VAPC SW for 3 years leading on Transition. Served in the Royal Marines for 27 Years. After leaving the Royal Marines in 2009 joined the

Wessex RFCA in the Facilities Department looking after the Reserve Forces and Cadet Buildings with Soft FM issues. Also helps organise the Falklands Reunions for 42 Commando Royal Marines every 5 years. A keen runner and completed 230 marathons since leaving the Royal Marines.

This is the first time he has judged at the Veterans Award and is looking forward to seeing what great work Veterans are doing for the Country and local Communities.

Hannah Cullen – Associate Solicitor, Hugh James 

I am an Associate Solicitor with Hugh James, I am based in our Cardiff office and I provide specialist legal representation and legal services for current and former members of the armed forces.  As a team we provide advice on a number of issues to include military deafness, PTSD and NFCI.

As a firm we are involved with many organisations raising money and awareness for the veterans community and this is something I am passionate about.

Hugh James have sponsored the Veterans Awards since 2019 and I have attended many of the ceremonies, they are always a fabulous occasion and a real celebration of fantastic achievements.  I am honoured to be on the judging panel this year and know it will be another great event.

Matthew Williamson TMIET Eng Tech VR (Telecommunications Technician FTT) Serica Energy.

An Experienced long serving specialist in Telecommunications systems within the UK energy sector, as well as a serving army reservist for over 23 years. I am Employed by Serica Energy who positively support my Reserve activities and actively looks for and supports veterans in industry.

I am an active volunteer member of 39 Signal Regiment, a local Reserve Signal Regiment based in Bristol, and I have lived in the area and southwest for much of this time.

Having served for a long time as well as working in a highly skilled sector I have experienced what veterans can bring to industry and being employed with in the Offshore Energy sector, I actively use my experience in promoting veterans.

I have not sat on a judging panel before and am honored to have been invited to do so, I am really looking forward to seeing some of the amazing differences veterans have made.

Darren Fuller – FDM Group – Regional Manager South, Ex Forces Programme

I am The Regional Manager South for FDM Groups Ex-Forces Programme, my day-to-day role sees me helping Ex-service personal of all ranks into successful careers within Tech or Business and continuing to support them whilst on that journey.

I had a full military career myself, spending over 20 years in The Parachute Regiment, those 20 years were some of the most exciting years of my life giving me memories that will last a lifetime. This time also helped me, gain considerable skills and experience that whilst at the time I might not have realised are highly sought after and transferable into the civilian job market. On leaving the forces in 2014 I settled in Colchester with my wife and children.

During the past 9 years I have stayed within the force’s community working for military charities gaining experience in employment, Fundraising, Governance and Welfare, before starting in my current role with FDM.

I’m really looking forward to being on the judging panel for the 2023 English Veterans Awards, to play a small part in Celebrating the talent and success that Ex-Forces bring to their communities is something I’m honoured to do.