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In a special message on Remembrance Sunday, the Lieutenant-Governor takes a moment to praise the good work of the island's generous volunteer community.
Air Chief Marshall Sir Stephen Dalton, had this to say...
This year on Remembrance Sunday, we will gather around the Cenotaph in York Street or at the War Memorials in the Parishes and, for a few moments, away from a very busy and challenging world situation to remember those who did not come home from conflict.
We will share those few minutes in remembrance of the deeds, valour and bravery of our soldiers, sailors and Royal Air Force personnel, both Jersey-born and those from the wider British family of nations, as well as those, from many other nations, who have served with the British Armed Forces over the last 107 years; we will also have in our hearts those who were not combatants, but who, nevertheless, through service to and in our community have lost their lives in times of conflict.
Pictured: Earlier this week, the Government signed the Armed Forces Covenant - pictured after the signing here are the Home Affairs Minister, Chief Minister, Bailiff, Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant Colonel of the Western Regional Commend, and Chair of the Royal British Legion.
Many of us will be thinking about relatives who lost their lives in two World Wars and in other conflicts; many will be remembering very personal and tragic consequences of military combat over the decades. But all of us will have something in common and that is that we have the privilege, the benefit and the responsibility to those who did lose their lives, to build a better world, a more caring community and a more sustainable future.
The life, which we have been given, is a very precious gift, a gift that we should seek to use to make the world, or at least a part of it, a better place for the future of all children. Many of you will have heard of the vital and highly effective work that the Jersey branch of the Gurkha Welfare Trust has been doing to help the children and families severely impacted by natural disasters in Nepal.
This work has been underpinned by the support of Jersey’s Overseas Aid funding and all of it has delivered tangible life-enhancing benefit to remote Nepalese communities. This is a prime example of how aid from a relatively small island community, working alongside a veterans-inspired charity, can have disproportionate benefit for a similarly small, but much less fortunate, community halfway across the world.
The last year has seen members of the British Armed Forces, yet again, serving the needs of the Nation all over the world. We have seen those same members of the Forces here in Jersey, whether that be patrolling our waters or demonstrating their aircrafts’ abilities in the skies above the Island on Jersey’s International Air Day once again. Reservists of our own Jersey Field Squadron were congratulated by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal when She visited Jersey in June and specifically acknowledged members of The Squadron who had each completed 15 years Reserve Service.
Pictured: Princess Anne meeting members of the Field Squadron when she visited Jersey in June.
In many cases, these were the very soldiers who had volunteered to go on active duty over the last few years and to serve alongside their regular counterparts on operations around the globe. I believe that it is the same sense of duty, of responsibility and of commitment to our Island and National values and beliefs that motivates these men and women to volunteer and to tread bravely, but sensitively, in the footsteps of those soldiers who have gone before them.
Much of the work of military charities goes on behind the scenes and out of the gaze of the public; yet, it is the very generous public, who enable these charities to provide care, support and more to help our veterans in their needs. Veterans are not the sort of people generally to ask for help; in their military careers, they learn to be part of a team, for it is as a team they have learned that they will succeed, survive and live.
Asking for help is not their natural reaction to finding themselves in difficulty; their instinct is to try and muddle through, to believe that better times are ahead and to remember that there are always people worse off than themselves. This is where the work of The Royal British Legion (RBL) is so vital. Formed 100 years ago this year, the RBL, alongside the other military charities which are active in Jersey, such as SSAFA, the Royal Air Force Association and Rock to Recovery, seeks to identify, understand and if necessary help our Island’s veterans have access to what they need to live decent lives after their military service.
I have been immensely heartened over recent months here in Jersey to see how The Government, Island organisations and institutions such as the States’ of Jersey Police, the States’ Prison Service and The Freemasons, have embraced the very idea of The Armed Forces Covenant and what it is designed to deliver for our veterans. The Covenant only seeks to identify how our veterans can have access to services and advice that are there for their use, but which they often do not know how to access or which, officials, often do not appreciate that veterans are missing out on. If you work in such areas of public service, then thank you for helping and for taking that extra time to consider the needs of veterans in your area of responsibility.
Equally, if you do not know about how your organisation, department or team should or can help veterans, then please take the time, when you can, to find out to what services and support veterans are entitled and then help them to gain access to those entitlements in line with all the other people who need a helping hand in our society.
Remembrance Sunday is the culmination each year of a short period in which we can reflect on the needs of those who have volunteered to defend our lives, our society and our freedoms, but now find that they are in need of some help themselves.
Many of you will have given generously over the last two weeks to support the work of the RBL and for that, I am very grateful.
Equally, I would like to thank all the volunteers and organisers who have spent hours collecting on the street corners, in shops, in places of work and in schools; Thank you for giving of your precious time. Thank you also to those who have helped run the RBL shop in town; without your commitment and time, the collection would not have been anywhere near as successful. And finally, I would like to thank you, the people of Jersey for giving so generously to support our veterans, the ex-soldiers, sailors and air force personnel who live here in Jersey and to enable the RBL to deliver vital and critical support to our veterans.
On Sunday when we stop to remember, let us also give thanks for the life that the veterans and those who did not come home have entrusted into our hands; that future, for which our veterans fought, is in the hands of all of us.
