Ex-Forces are one of the largest sources of talented potential employees in the country. Service leavers and veterans are highly trained and skilled individuals who have worked within a motivated culture with exceptionally strong teamwork. RFEA work with 20,000 service leavers and veterans every year, supporting employers to recruit when they need high volumes of people to join their organisation.

The unique Ex-Forces Programme, which recently received a significant boost from ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, of £267,000, is available to all service leavers, reservists and veterans, irrespective of circumstances, rank, length of service or reason for leaving. It offers regionally based, comprehensive career advice and job opportunities.

Brigadier (Ret’d) Robin Bacon, Chief of Staff, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity:

Meaningful employment plays a major role in ensuring veterans and their immediate families can live a life of independence and dignity and we see RFEA’s Ex-Forces Programme as playing a vital part in helping them achieve that. We are delighted to be able to contribute to such a worthwhile initiative that reaches so many.

RFEA understands the needs of service leavers, including the unique challenges they face during the transition from military to civilian life.

Mark Lightowler, a former Army Captain, secured a lucrative Operations Manager role after seeking help from RFEA:

From the very first call I had from RFEA it was so very refreshing to hear and to speak to someone who spoke ‘the language’ and understood the needs and challenges of veterans looking for work in a civilian world. My Advisor is a very personable individual who offered sound advice, however, by far the most important attribute that RFEA demonstrated was taking the time to care, to really care.

Alistair Halliday, RFEA’s Chief Executive:

The Ex-Forces Programme is there for all veterans and reservists who need help to find work once they have left the Armed Forces. This means that later in life, if veterans face redundancy, underemployment, or difficulties fitting into a new work culture, we can help them.

Serving in the armed forces means shorter relevant industry experience and less understanding and practice at the recruitment process than the civilians veterans are competing with for jobs. Our programme provides an essential safety net beyond transition from the armed forces and we are so grateful to ABF The Soldiers’ Charity for the continued support we have received to enable RFEA to carry out this essential work.

Find out more about the Ex-Forces programme and why hiring veterans is good for business.

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On 30 September, as part of the ongoing British-Turkmen scientific dialogue and the UK Government’s global COVID-19 response, British Embassy Ashgabat organised a second scientific-educational webinar on the effective treatment methods and further prevention of COVID-19 in Turkmenistan.

Senior scientists, doctors and professors from the UK shared their best knowledge and latest practical experience in effectively treating the COVID-19 patients with the colleagues at the Turkmen Ministry of Healthcare and Medical Industry, State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service and Centre of Public Health and Nutrition.

During the webinar, Professor Neil Squires, Director of Global Public Health at Public Health England (PHE), which is an executive agency of the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care, summarised the UK strategies for combating COVID-19 and precautionary measures to prepare for the upcoming winter season.

Professor Paul Moss, professor of Haematology at the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy and Deputy Head of the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, continued the discussion with updating the participants on the current immunology and immunity treatments in the UK. Professor Moss also covered the broad clinical overview and steroid treatment as well as immunotherapy and antibody treatments derived from plasma from recovering patients during his presentation.

Dr Peter Forster, Fellow at McDonald Institute at the University of Cambridge and UK Director of Research at the Institute for Forensic Genetics, briefed the audience on the global spread and mutation of the coronavirus.

Dr Shiu-Wan Chan, Lecturer at the Division of Infection, Immunity & Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester presented the outcomes of her most recent research on anti-viral treatments. Dr Chan also updated the audience on the current state of play of the most promising vaccine research and trials in the world.

Finally, Dr Brijesh V Patel, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Cardiothoracic Critical Care at the Imperial College London, presented a latest overview of the intensive care unit (ICU) protocols and management of COVID-19 in the UK (including best use of oxygen and ventilators).

Dr Patel also explained in detail to the Turkmen counterparts the work of Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life.

The virtual event concluded with an interactive Q&A session.

The coronavirus outbreak is the biggest public health emergency in a generation. It calls for decisive and coordinated action, guided by the WHO and based on science and evidence. The UK stands with the world to tackle this crisis, as international cooperation is the only cure for COVID-19.

For the IPO to be a brilliant place to work, and for people to be able to do their best work, we all need to be confident and comfortable being ourselves.

As we approach the end of National Inclusion Week, we’d like to talk about our commitment to inclusion.

An inclusive culture is demonstrated through your values, principles and shows in the way you do things every day. We want everyone to feel comfortable being themselves at work. We support everyone’s basic human right to be who they are, supporting them to do their best work while they are with us.

We support the use of gender-neutral pronouns and facilities. We are making a commitment to review all our internal and external communication to make it gender-neutral where we legally can. As well as this, as we invest in and refurbish our buildings, we will make our facilities accessible to all.

We believe black lives matter. We are looking at our policies and practices that prevent our present and future black colleagues from reaching their potential with us.

We believe in equality of opportunity for all genders. We have committed to tackling our gender pay gap from the application process to our policies, ensuring everyone has equal access and opportunity.

We support people’s need to take time out for prayer and reflection, so we have quiet rooms available that can be used for these reasons.

Your sexual orientation, gender, race, age, any disability that you have, or any other characteristic should not prevent you from achieving your full potential. Neither should someone else’s attitude towards them. But we can’t do this alone. The responsibility to build an inclusive workplace rests with us all, if we want it to be fair and inclusive we need to know where it’s not so we can change.

We will not tolerate any form of behaviour that undermines someone’s basic human rights. We will challenge it where we see it and we want everyone to feel confident to do that too. All our IPO colleagues should feel safe and happy to be who they are without judgement or fear.

We know we can’t do this alone. That’s why we continually seek out best practice and external assurance to inform our approach to inclusion. This includes working in partnership with other government departments across the UK and internationally with other Intellectual Property bodies. We are also proud to have been a strong supporter of IP Inclusive which is working to bring greater diversity, equality and inclusivity to the IP profession.

We feel that the IPO has made real progress in creating an inclusive environment. We achieved silver for the second consecutive year in the Chwarae Teg Fairplay Employer awards. We placed in the top 30 of Working Families Employer index for the fourth consecutive year. We’ve been a signatory of the BiTC Race at Work Charter for two years, committing to taking action to achieve racial equality in the workplace. We placed in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers list in 2019 for a third consecutive year, achieved Gold in Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index and been awarded Gold accreditation by Investors in People.

But we recognise there is more work to do. If we want to make the IPO a Brilliant Place to Work, making it an inclusive workplace is critical. We all have a responsibility to that vision.

IPO Board: Tim, David, Dom, Pippa, Mike, Ros, Neil, Adam