Dorset is a county with above average military presence, particularly veterans, and has strong existing relationships with its Armed Forces Community.
It has 6,500 serving personnel across 4 bases: Blandford Camp, Bovington Camp (Stanley Barracks, Allenby Barracks, Gunnery School Lulworth Camp), West Moors Fuel Depot and Royal Marines at Hamworthy. It is estimated there are around 1,575 spouses and 2,389 children related to those personnel.
Dorset has a large veteran population, being home to 2% of the UK’s veterans whilst having only 1.2% of the national population. This is the 4th highest difference between percentage of national population and percentage of veterans of all the regions.
Dorset ranks 5th in percentage of total population that are veterans 7.95% (58,000).
On average 61.5% of those veterans are residing with their spouse meaning there are at least 31,365 veteran’s spouses in Dorset.
We estimate the total number of members of the Armed Forces Community in Dorset is in excess of 100,000, around 12.9% of Dorset’s 771,900 population.
This means that at least 1 in every 7 person in Dorset should have the capability to benefit from the provisions of the Armed Forces Covenant.
Armed Forces Covenant Survey
To ensure that the Information Points provide information and help that meets the needs of our Armed Forces Community and on behalf of our partners Dorset Council are carrying out a Armed Forces Covenant Survey.
We want to get a clear picture of the thoughts and opinions of life in Dorset for our Armed Forces, your families and the county’s veteran population. This will ensure we are doing our best to adhere to our Covenant pledges to ensure the Armed Forces Community in Dorset are not put at disadvantage due to their service to our country.
The Dorset Armed Forces Covenant Survey which will take just 5 minutes to complete, is completely anonymous and the information gathered will help the Programme deliver relevant and meaningful solutions to issues that are currently being faced by our Armed Forces Community.