I am Cllr Winston Feather the Armed Forces Representative for Skipton Town Council, and I would like to say a few words about our Armed Forces Community who we are honouring today.
Armed Forces Day celebrates the whole of the Armed Forces Community.
That includes current serving members of our Armed Forces who defend the UK and its interests.
However the Armed Forces Community also includes:-
Veterans - who have served in our Armed Forces as National Servicemen, Regulars or Reserves and often continue to play a role within the military community through organisations such as The Royal British Legion and other armed forces associations represented here today.
Reservists – who give up their spare time to serve in the Reserve Forces, balancing their civilian life with a military career to ensure that should their country require them, they would be ready to serve.
Cadets - who learn life and career building skills as well as gaining vocational qualifications. There are currently over 130,000 young people in Cadet Forces across the UK.
And finally Armed Forces Families - who provide the day-to-day support to Armed Forces personnel which in turn enables them to serve us.
My role as Armed Forces Champion is to make sure that as a council, we consider the needs of all our armed forces community, recognise, and remember the sacrifices made by them and make sure that they are treated with fairness and respect in the community they serve.