Veterans guaranteed job interviews
War veterans applying for council posts in Walsall will be guaranteed a job interview from now on, bosses have revealed.
The ruling Labour group has attracted cross-party support for the move.
Walsall's armed forces champion, Councillor Carl Creaney, said the promise of job interviews for veterans was central to the drive to focus on job creation schemes, tackle low wages, high unemployment, child poverty, low educational attainment and health inequalities in parts of the borough.
"It is easy to forget the sacrifices of our veterans, and when they leave the forces it is sometimes difficult for them to adjust to civilian life. A guaranteed job interview will be a big help to them but it also illustrates a shared value between veterans and our plans for a fairer future, which can be summed up as 'we won't accept anyone being left behind'," Councillor Creaney, of Willenhall South, said.
The borough is a popular recruiting area for the military. A number of soldiers have fought on the frontline in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some have given their lives or returned home with serious injuries.
Former Irish Guard Scott Yarrington, 29, of Bloxwich who was left fighting for his life after he was injured by an Improvised Explosive Device, while on patrol in Helmand Province in, 2010 welcomed the move.
"I think it's a good idea to offer interviews as long as the candidate is matched properly to the post that is being advertised. Help For Heroes do training courses to help people find work and I have friends who now work with BT and Barclays, who run similar schemes, as a result," Mr Yarrington, a full-time dad, said.
Cpl Jonathan Horne, 27, of Delves, was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2009. He was helping fellow soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Rifles who were injured in a previous bomb blast.
Gunner David Lawrence, 25, of Bloxwich, died in Basra, Iraq, in 2004 while serving with the 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. He was driving in a convoy when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Others including Royal Navy medical assistant Liam O'Grady, of Palfrey, was injured in Afghanistan in 2011 while attached to the Infantry Mercian Regiment after being caught up in a Taliban grenade attack.
Cannock Chase District Council offers returning veterans and their families free gym membership as part of efforts to help them cope with civilian life.
