Canterbury College in Groundbreaking Scheme Helps ex-Service Personnel

The New Dover Road campus will open its doors to wounded, injured and sick ex-Service personnel in the South East to help with their rehabilitation. They will be given the opportunity to gain qualifications that will make them more attractive to prospective civilian employers.

The scheme will be one of Canterbury College’s first contributions to the recently signed covenant that aims to foster closer relationships between soldiers, their families and the communities in which they live and work.

The idea was first discussed when Lieutenant Colonel Paul Meldon, Commanding Officer of the Personnel Recovery Unit, gave a presentation to College staff in February.

Lt Col Meldon spoke about his unit’s work resettling soldiers in Kent, and discussed the possibility of Canterbury College’s inclusion in its soldier rehabilitation programme. He explained that including Canterbury College’s courses into the Army’s rehabilitation programme would benefit ex-Service personnel by broadening the support systems available to them.

The talk was followed by a discussion that also included members of the Canterbury based 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, Unit Careers and Welfare representatives and the Commander of Medical Services for the Kent region.

Canterbury College hopes to begin providing courses for rehabilitating Army personnel in the near future.

The College made history in January this year by becoming the first further education college in the UK to sign an Armed Forces Community Covenant with the commanding officers of the Army regiments based in Canterbury.