Founded in 1943 Finchale Training College (part of Finchale Group), has been providing dedicated support to the armed forces community across a broad spectrum for 80 years. Finchale Training College was initially opened as a resource centre in County Durham for retraining wounded soldiers in WW2 and assisting their reintegration into civilian life through various rehabilitation, re-training and vocational programmes. Over the years FTC continued developing and evolving to fulfil the needs of the forces families and the local communities these soldiers returned to. This institute continues to support the needs of the armed forces community including service personnel who may be permanently or temporarily disabled or require special physical or mental health needs in their rehabilitation. In particular (but not exclusively) we aim to provide relief from hardship and appropriate opportunities and pathways as may be thought fit, including re-training and assistance in seeking long-term employment. Since 2022, Finchale has extended its responsibility to provide much needed services in education and skills, employment support and health and wellbeing to the wider local communities in the areas it serves. Thus adopting a holistic approach towards raising standards of living within our diverse communities through real and tangible social mobility uplift.
Such a versatile method of working is resourceful as it enables forces personnel and veterans to use their skills acquired in the military to support and encourage others (especially young people) whilst building up their own confidence and resilience enabling a steady and smoother transition reintegrating back into civilian life. Finchale continues to develop this aspect of service within some of the most deprived communities. After all the finished product of a soldier was probably once a young person from one of the disadvantaged and underserved communities we are currently working in to support the most marginalised and hardest to reach.
During 2022 Finchale Group’s Armed Forces and Veterans Division extended its work across three areas, Durham, Catterick Garrison and West Yorkshire establishing Armed Forces and Veterans (AF&V) i-Hubs in each location. Finchale Group are a Government Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award holder with strong connections with the RFCA (Reserve Forces and Cadets Association). Our Catterick Garrison AF&V i-Hub is a member of NASDIC the National Association of Service Drop in Centres. Finchale are members of the Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO), and Gold members of the Institute of Supply Chain Management. Our Health and Wellbeing programmes support those who may be suffering with mental health issues, but equally Finchale supports the cause of reducing social isolation (loneliness) by getting Veterans out of their homes and mixing with likeminded people through our successful NAAFI type tea & toast / coffee mornings. The then Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak officially opened Finchale Group’s Armed Forces and Veterans iHub in Catterick Garrison.