Veterans of the armed forces are being urged to take advantage of a new support scheme on offer to help them secure civilian jobs.

Last month, employment and health firm Seetec Pluss, in partnership with Skills Launchpad Plymouth, organised an online Work and Wellbeing event for veterans, hosted at Manadon Sports & Community Hub in Plymouth.

The event highlighted the support on offer from organisations such as Improving Lives, Argyle Community Trust, the Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club, Active Plus and RFEA, the forces employment charity.

Seetec Pluss operations manager, Chris Martin, who served in the Royal Navy after leaving school, said there are a wide range of services available.

“In the forces you get trained to survive and be self-sufficient,” he said.

“To admit that you’re not able to do that can make you feel you’ve failed. Breaking down that barrier is the first step.”

Veterans’ research carried out by Openreach before the Covid-19 pandemic found three-quarters of ex-military personnel found the transition to civilian life challenging, with almost half of respondents taking a year or more to adjust to civilian working life.

Attending job interviews and drafting CVs were among the challenges.

Former Army Captain and Plymouth Moor View MP Johnny Mercer, who served as minister for defence and veterans and attended the event in Plymouth, said: “The military provides precious skills that veterans should be proud of, such as great leadership, fantastic work ethic, loyalty and being team players, all attributes that employers want.

“We need to make the transition from military to civilian life as seamless as possible and there is some great support out there to do this.

“It can be a nervous time, but our ex-forces personnel should be confident in knowing they have a vast array of skills in a buoyant employment market and that there is specialist support like Seetec Pluss to help them.”

Mr Martin said he believes talking to ex-military Employment Advisors helps veterans engage, and he works closely with other ex-services members of the Seetec Pluss Work and Health team to target support for military veterans as part of Seetec’s drive to ensure no-one is left behind, particularly after the challenges of Covid-19.

“There are many opportunities available, and we are working with employers to continually widen that market within the private sector, or through self-employment, for veterans to use those transferable skills,” he added.