Former Army Officer is new Armed Forces Champion

A former senior Army officer has been appointed as South Kesteven District Council’s Armed Forces Champion.

Cllr Richard Dixon-Warren’s role gives extra impetus to the council’s prestigious Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award (DERS) announced in July, recognising SKDC’s exceptional levels of advocacy and support for the Armed Forces.

Richard, who was elected as ward councillor for Aveland in February, retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2017. His 40 years of service included the First Gulf War, Northern Ireland and Bosnia-i-Hercegovina, garrison duties in UK, Germany and Hong Kong, an exchange with the New Zealand Army in Singapore and loan service in Kuwait.

He said: “I am delighted to be given this opportunity to raise the profile and address the needs of our Armed Forces community, and I thank my predecessor, Councillor Dean Ward, for his work in this respect.

“We are extremely proud to be one of only 12 Gold Award holders in Lincolnshire, with just 600 Gold award organisations across the UK.

“It’s an exciting platform for us to promote support for our Armed Forces’ community and encourage others to both sign the Armed Forces Covenant and understand the benefits of engaging with the Employer Recognition Scheme, notably the opportunities to recruit ex-military with all the skills they bring.

“I look forward to working with fellow councillors, military units and other stakeholders to keep the shared promise by the nation that all British Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families suffer no disadvantage because of their service.”

Leader of SKDC, Cllr Kelham Cooke, said: “We are very fortunate to have a councillor with all the right credentials to fulfil this important role. Richard will be invaluable in helping the council build on our Gold Award status to help support our military community.”

Richard’s Army career included a two-year spell from 2001-2003 as Chief of Staff at Grantham’s Prince William of Gloucester barracks, then HQ Royal Logistic Corps Territorial Army. He was then Joint Regional Liaison Officer East as the military point of contact for UK resilience operations across the East of England. from 2003 until his retirement.

He is a Trustee of the Armed Forces & Veterans Launchpad charity, and sits on the Lincolnshire Committee of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity. He is a member of the Lincolnshire Police Independent Advisory Group and of Lincoln Diocesan Synod.

He chairs his local Parish Council and is Secretary to his church Parochial Church Council. He has an amateur interest in local and family history and in his spare time, occasionally writes about it.