Doing the business

CONTINUING our series on the relationship between civilian society and the Armed Forces, Emma Cowing looks at whether the corporate community is following sport's lead in helping the British military

WHEN Rangers Football Club announced last month that it was giving away 1,200 free tickets to members of the Armed Forces for its Champions League home match against Unirea Urziceni, it was more than just a generous gesture. It marked the beginning of a shift in the Scottish business world's attitude to the military.

"Once we learned Unirea would not be taking up their allocation in the away section at Ibrox, we immediately thought of donating the tickets to the army in Scotland," says Rangers chief executive Martin Bain. "We all owe the members of the Armed Forces a huge debt of gratitude."

Dismal final score aside (the Romanian team won 4-1), the move was a win-win. Not only would it mean soldiers could cheer on the Scottish side, it was, of course, fabulous publicity for Rangers.

Three weeks later, an initiative named Tickets for Troops was launched (by the Conservatives, although it will be run as a charitable organisation). It is, inevitably, an idea stolen from America, where the charity dishes out tickets to baseball matches, American football games and rock concerts to members of the military. It has taken off quickly in Scotland – perhaps, in part, because of the favourable response heaped upon Rangers a few weeks back.

Scottish football clubs, including Hearts, Rangers, Aberdeen and Falkirk, as well as Cricket Scotland and Tennis Scotland, have signed up.

But while sporting organisations have always had ties with the military, the initiative raises the wider question of just what private business in this country does to support our Armed Forces, and, indeed, what should they be doing?

Jim Panton, chief executive of veterans' charity Erskine, says there is a long way to go in fostering a healthy relationship between the two.

"The corporate approach (to fundraising] has been quite reserved," he says. "Although there are also smaller signs, where certain corporates are saying they want to do more to help and they want to do something specifically with us – there seems to be a bit of difficulty as to what they can actually do."

According to Iain McMenamy, a private businessman with his own PR firm who spent seven years serving in the Territorial Army, businesses do now recognise the importance of fostering these kinds of relationships.

"I think it's good for business to show they understand corporate social responsibility. From a PR perspective, there are also opportunities for good publicity. People in business are starting to put politics to the side a little bit more – in the past the relationship soured because of the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it's changing now."

Colin McGregor, a former RAF pilot who now works in private business and is an ambassador for Erskine – and, incidentally, is the brother of film star Ewan – agrees.

"In today's day and age, the corporate social responsibility side of business has become really big. Companies feel they should be seen to be doing something and giving back something, and they involve their staff in charitable ways. The question for veterans' organisations is, how do you get to the top of their list? Often it's about being able to meet the right people within the company, or having a firm that employs people who have had some connection to the Forces in the past, where it might strike a chord with them."

But, in the midst of a recession, Scotland's banks and businesses don't have as much money to spare for veterans' charities and free perks for Armed Forces members as they once had, and the economic downturn has had an impact on all of the veteran charities.

"Of course, charities welcome any business that comes on to sponsor a project or to support fundraising events," says Ian McGregor, the chief executive of PoppyScotland. "A lot of fundraising dinners are being cancelled now, however, because companies haven't got the money to spare and it's not an easy time to beat that particular drum."

Historically, private business has maintained what some describe as a "casual" relationship with the Armed Forces. In 2003, it took a dive after a number of companies were caught short when compulsory mobilisation was reintroduced by the Territorial Army during the invasion of Iraq.

McMenamy, who himself was called up during that time, says: "Companies were quite supportive about the odd bit of time off to go away and do courses, but Iraq was the first time since World War Two this had happened, and I think at that point a lot of businesses thought, 'Wait a minute, I don't mind you going away and spending the odd week here or there, but, if you're going away for six months, it's a different story'.

"It's a big imposition on a company if a member of staff is away for six months of the year and then they come back and have to be retrained. I think the relationship between the Armed Forces and business dipped a bit then, but it's getting back on track now."

Another of the major areas where it is felt that private business must change its attitude is in recruiting veterans into the workplace.

"We need to address terms of employment for the armed services community," says Panton. "There are so many transferable skills in the Armed Forces, yet it seems exceptionally difficult to actually translate that into something that's relevant in the civilian workplace. You might be lucky enough to have a specific trade, like a pilot or an engineer, but you might have more general skills, like being a tank driver or a rifleman.

"Inevitably, most of the Armed Forces are looking at having to take a pay cut in order to start somewhere else on a career ladder."

One former serviceman says: "It would be a huge help to veterans if businesses would give active consideration to service applicants for jobs. Frequently, they're trained to a high level to be a good employee – they blend in extremely well and are very flexible. But there's an area where there's a gulf of understanding, where people think they're recruiting robots and it's quite the reverse."

Jane Wood, chief executive of Scottish Business in the Community, says there is a lack of awareness within the business world about the issue. "There are so many issues around employability with young people, ex-offenders, vulnerable people in society and such like, that I'm not sure how aware the private sector is about what level of problem this is (with veterans].

"There might be some fantastic projects out there that help veterans get into work, but I'm not aware of them at all."

Having been made aware of the situation by The Scotsman's Support Our Troops campaign, Wood says she would be open to helping run projects that could get veterans back into the civilian workplace. "There are employability projects we run that we could transfer on to ex-Forces people. If there was a want to help get ex-Armed Forces personnel back into employment in the private sector, then obviously that would be something we would look at.

"There's no reason at all why you couldn't do a programme to get veterans into work with the public sector or the private sector. It's something we could facilitate as an organisation because of our access into the private sector."

It sounds like a promising start.

A soldier's story: 'You never think it's going to happen until you get the knock on the door'

MARK WRIGHT always wanted to be a soldier. "It was all he ever dreamed about," says his father Bob. "When he passed his test to get into the Paras, he was over the moon."

When his battalion, 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, was sent to Afghanistan in 2006, 27-year-old Mark, from Edinburgh, was well aware of the risks. "He knew what he was doing," says Bob. "He always said the guys were there because they wanted to be there."

On 6 September, while on operations in Kajaki in Helmand Province, Mark entered a minefield in a heroic attempt to save the lives of other injured soldiers. A Chinook helicopter arrived, but it was not fitted with a winch to lift him and his colleagues to safety. Instead, it landed nearby, and its downdraft set off a mine that killed Mark.

"I remember coming home that day and there were two army guys there in uniform, but I just didn't twig," says Bob. "Then I saw my wife Gem. She was lying on the floor stamping her feet and screaming. We were just numb, walking about in a daze. You never think it's going to happen to you until you get the knock on the door."

Mark was awarded the George Cross, posthumously. In the aftermath of his death, as Bob and Gem struggled to come to terms with their own loss, they realised the severity of the issues that other services families, particularly those whose loved ones had been injured, were experiencing.

"I don't think people realise the dangers these guys are facing and the injuries they are sustaining," says Bob. "They're severe injuries and they affect the whole family. Everyone's lives change. What was once a happy family is decimated by the injuries being sustained."

Wanting to help, as well as honour the memory of their son, they decided to set up their own charity, the Mark Wright Project. Due to open on 21 November in Dalkeith, the charity will provide counselling and respite for veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It will also seek to provide support for the families of those who have been injured, too, and offer them counselling.

Bob doesn't feel enough is being done to support our troops. "We're funding this ourselves. We haven't received anything from the government," he says.

"Yet a facility like this is desperately needed. There's no support for families, and when some of them get seriously injured it's not just individuals, it's the whole family that suffers the pain."

Bob believes Mark would approve of the facility.

"Mark was a caring guy," says Bob. "So I think it is fitting that he's still caring for people now."