About
Forces Online CIO (also known as Forces Online) is a registered CIO Charity first registered on the 7th April 2020 Registration Number 1188955 (England and Wales). On the 21st January 2021 Forces Online Scotland was registered with OSCR Registration Number SC050678. The organisation is a cross border charity set up to work with veterans across the whole of the United Kingdom for:
"The Relief of Former Armed Forces Service Personnel, who are in need by reason of age, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage in particular but not exclusively by providing them with help and assistance and by offering them a sign posting service to expert support providers for their benefit".
The organisation was was founded in September 2013.
In short this mean that we help veterans and their families wherever we can.
PRODUCTS
TOM HOWAT MEMORIAL HARDSHIP FUND
Remembering Tom's work with homeless and other veteran's who are down on their luck. The restricted hardship fund is part of the Forces Online welfare department and is used specifically for veterans hardship cases.
MILITARY MEMORIALS UNITED KINGDOM
When the memorials we being damaged in the United Kingdom Forces Online CIO started a support group and a petition to gather names of people that were unhappy about the damage to our Military heritage .
WELFARE SUPPORT & RIGHTS
The Welfare Support team work tirelessly to help veterans and their families from all over the United Kingdom. We are able to provide therapeutic interventions as well as support for a whole range of issues.
THE VETERANS DIRECTORY
The Veterans Directory is a FREE resource to armed forces organisations that help veterans and their families in the United Kingdom. Click the link above to add yours into our County based veterans directory service.
THE VETERANS VIRTUALHUB
The VirtualHub is open daily Monday-Saturday from 10am. Veteran's and their families can drop-in during open meetings to banter and sort out any issues they may have. The hub is an ASDIC accredited virtual region.
EXTENSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA REACH & MEMBERS
Our extensive social media reach over Facebook, Linked-In and Twitter and our ability to share with other groups in the network enhances our ability to communicate across the whole of the armed forces community.
CHAT HEROES TO THE RESCUE
Chat Heroes provide a live chat environment on all of our websites to help veterans and families communicate with Forces Online, which in turn helps us with a responsive service that is able to minimise waiting times
ASSOCIATE SERVICE - MEDAL LOCATOR
We are pleased to be associated with Kevin Mann who runs the Medal Locator service. If your medals are stolen or lost then Medal Locator should be your first port of call. We also have more about medals HERE
VIDEO
Military Memorials UK
Military Memorials UK song - Lest We Forget kindly donated by MVCA
Tom Howat Memorial Hardship Fund
Tom's memory lives on through the THMHF
Forces Online Network
An insight into the world of Forces Online
Forces Online County Groups
The Veterans Directory on display
The Forces Online Friendship System
How it all started - Everyone deserves a second chance!
10,000 Reasons
The reasons why we do what we do
BACK
TEAM
LEN CHAPPELL
Len founded forces online in 2013 following a chat with an old forces colleague living in Spain, and used social media to send a lot of old military photographs from a Northern Ireland Tour back in 1997/8 where Lt Col Iain Corden-Lloyd was KIA. Len quickly realised the power of social media and began to develop Forces Online. Len has family from all three services. His own father served in the Royal Navy throughout WWII from 1937 until 1949. His step-father served in the RAF, and his mother in the Army. The organisation became a charity in 2020 and Len worked many years as a professional childcare worker to raise the money to front the organisation. He realised that there is similarities between the two support mechanisms i.e. Children & Veteran's. Len is the mastermind behind the web & database development. Prior to working with children Len was a leisure manager and before that he was in the Army.
KEITH SHIELDS
Keith joined the organisation in 2020. He is heading up Finance & Estates. Keith has many years experience of accountancy and business management. On a personal level he is involved as an Olympic shotgun coach/judge.
MICK EMM
Mick an RAF veteran has been with Forces Online since 2014. He started as the Nottinghamshire VSC and enhanced his web development ability. Mick is now the the Head of the https://www.veteransdirectory.org.uk
DAVID McMULLEN
David joined the organisation in 2014 and he currently heads up the Legal department. David is currently a Trustee and he is a campaigner for the CommonWealth Soldiers.
CRAIG RICHARDSON
I am current still serving in the Armed Forces and have a wealth of knowledge and experience in managing teams of people. I head up HR for Forces Online
EDWARD SWANSON
My name is Edward (Edd) I am Ex RAF and the head of Fundraising and currently have some teams working in Scotland. I have experience with direct sales. I live in Scotland and have been with the organisation for four years.
WENDY POWELL JONES
My name is Wendy I am the head of Welfare and manage the services and counselling staff connected with Welfaresupport.net I currently live in France. I worked for the NHS for many years as a qualified therapist.
CARL EDWARDS
Carl is Ex Army and runs an bsuiness providing tribute acts called CJ Entertainment | entertainment agency UK (cj-entertainment.co.uk) Carl is the Head of the Walk of Life project. https://www.walkoflife.uk
ROBERT McGINLAY
My name is Robert am am Ex Forces. Prior to working for SSAFA in Glasgow I previously worked in a bank and in Housing. I now Manage the THMHF, and am a member of the Welfare Team.
PHIL ELLAWAY
My name is Phil. I served in the Army and later in the Police. I am currently the Chair of Forces Online. I have previous experience working with other charities. I am now retired.
EVE WINSTANLEY
My name is Eve. I currently work in a primary school and am studying for a Diploma in therapeutic counselling. I am the 2IC of Welfare at Forces Online and an intermediate counsellor.
SEAN McCALLUM
My name is Sean I am the head of Assurance for Forces Online, working behind the scene to make sure that our services are quality checked and compliant with the latest statutory requirements.
REBECCA SHIELDS
My name is Rebecca I have recently joined the team as a volunteer Grant Funding lead.
KEVIN MANN
My name is Kevin and I have finally joined the organisation as a trustee. I am the Head of Media & Corporate Communications and Medal Expert with my own Medal-Locator.com (CLICK)
BACK
BRANDING
DISTINGTIVE BRANDING
The Forces Online branding on our social media above shows an inlaid Forces Online earlier image with the Tri-Services Badge and the newer Tudor Rose inlaid into the background. They also show the charity numbers and Armed Forces badges. The example above is from Len's social media business page. The two images below are both our main images which are fully copyrighted by Len.
The Land, Sea, Air Logo
The Tudor Rose Logo
