Being Forces Friendly Podcast

Sally Orange MBE is an Army veteran, endurance runner, Guinness world record holder and mental health campaigner. In this episode, she chats to DRM Senior National Account Manager Tony Blaney about her amazing mental health projects, from running marathons dressed as a piece of fruit to swimming the Hudson, the importance of mental health awareness, her own struggles with depressio

The guest of today’s episode, Heledd Kendrick is the founder of an award-winning social enterprise Recruit for Spouses and a military spouse herself. Sitting down with DRM Senior Account Manager Tony Blaney, she speaks about why she felt the need to start her business, issues military spouses and partners face and also the incredible qualities and talents they can bring to busine

In this new season, we focus on personal stories of different members of the Armed Forces community, to understand their unique experiences and hear more about their lives. In Episode 1, DRM’s National Account Manager Ben Onions chats to Army veteran Michael Neville who is now a manager at Netcompany. Mike talks about his passion for Army aviation, flying the Apache helicopter in

What support can leavers of the Armed Forces access and why should employers hire ex-military staff? In this episode, Nat Haynes (Assistant Director RM, DRM) sits down with Lorraine Cadle and James Moore from Career Transition Partnership (CTP), the official provider of resettlement, to discuss the support CTP provides for leavers of the Armed Forces, from resettlement training cou

Since 2014, Defence Relationship Management (DRM) has partnered with organisations across the UK, helping them understand the value of signing the Armed Forces Covenant and building mutually beneficial partnerships with Defence. In this episode, DRM’s Director Neil ‘Jacko’ Jackson sits down with the Senior Management team to chat about DRM as an organisation, providing an ins

The host for this episode, Sam Berkson, National Account Manager at DRM, talks with two reservists that work for Northern – Ryan Wells and Geraint Bartie. Northern signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2021 and subsequently achieved a Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award in 2022. By being a supportive employer in this way, Northern enables their reservists to balance both their

This episode’s host is Kate Lole, one of three Regional Employer Engagement Directors based in the South East. She talks to Shaun Cunningham of Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, Laura Farrow of South Central Ambulance Service and Stuart Bosley of Thames Valley Police.  During the episode, Kate and our guests discuss the importance of the Armed Forces Covenant, the E

Since 1922, veterans with health conditions have been supported into employment by The Poppy Factory. The first of these were disabled veterans of the First World War, who came to work producing Remembrance products for The Royal British Legion. Today, its support also reaches far beyond the factory into communities across England and Wales, helping ex-Forces job seekers on their j

The Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) encourages employers to support Defence and inspire others to do the same. The scheme encompasses bronze, silver and gold awards for employer organisations that pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to Defence and the armed forces community, and align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant. In episode 15, Jan Cox, Regional Employ

In this episode Neil ‘Jacko’ Jackson (Director, DRM) spoke to Caroline Bull, a former combat medical technician, who served five years in the British Army. After a successful career in the private security industry, Caroline has spent the past year volunteering with RE:ACT as part of the UK's response to Covid-19 and she is now pursuing a new career as a paramedic. They discuss