A MILITARY co-working initiative launched at Leuchars army barracks in Fife in 2017 is being rolled out across the UK after securing funding from an armed forces funding programme.
The Military Coworking Network turns unused spaces on military bases into shared working hubs where partners of people in the army, navy or Royal Air Force can collaborate, get support to find work and develop skills, careers and businesses.
“By 2019, there were five hubs open,” explained Laura Moore, marketing and communications manager for the Military Coworking Network. “We now have seven operational hubs and another 30 in the pipeline. So that really shows the demand and need for this.”
The operational hubs include RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Surrey and the military garrison of Aldershot, which is home to around 6,000 military and Ministry of Defence personnel. The first international Military Coworking Network hub is expected to open in Cyprus in January 2021.
The Armed Forces Covenant Trust, which invests £10 million a year in projects to support military families and veterans, is now funding a formal two-year pilot of the initiative across 12 military bases in the UK. These include HM Naval Base Clyde at Helensburgh and Leuchars Station, which is home to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, the Royal Engineers and a military police unit.
“The funding is allowing us to take the network from a grassroots community project and to start to give it a structure,” Ms Moore said. “We now have a central support team who are driving the project forward. The results of the pilot and its impact on military partners will be independently evaluated and then reviewed by the Ministry of Defence, who have given their approval to the pilot project.”
Around 65,000 regular trained service personnel across the army, navy and RAF are thought to be married or in a civil partnership.
“Our community includes teachers, carers, lawyers, artists, business owners, people doing PhDs and countless other skills and qualifications,” explained Ms Moore. “In a recent survey with 2,000 of our members, we found 35% have a job they can take with them. But that still leaves 65% who are having to start over every two years when they move with their partner.
“We generally move every two years. I have spent five years in Germany and two years in Cyprus. Unless you have a remote working job, you’re literally starting over every few years, which can have a real impact on your career.”
Success stories from the Military Coworking Network include two property lawyers with past and current postings to Cyprus linking up over one of the network’s welcome webinars.
A makeup artist, photographer and hairdresser from the Leuchars hub also teamed up to offer makeover packages.
Every coworking hub is linked by an online community, which has more than doubled its membership to 2,000 during 2020.
“We would love to hit 5,000 members, and we think that’s quite achievable,” Ms Moore said.
Reducing social isolation is a key aim of the network.
“Social isolation is something we’ve been talking about since 2017,” Ms Moore said. “It’s now become much more of a mainstream conversation. Everybody’s suddenly realised that these day-to-day human interactions and human connections are a really necessary in life.”
All the hubs were closed during the first lockdown, but those that have since reopened had Covid safety measures in place, including a reduced number of desks. Ms Moore said lockdown had opened employers’ eyes to the fact that remote working was possible and also had benefits.
The Military Coworking Network is largely run by volunteers and was founded by Sarah Stone, an external relations adviser to David Cameron while he was Prime Minister and a former member of the Royal Signals.
Her template for the project was Can Do Places, a community network part-funded by the Scottish Government. It was launched in 2014 to help enterprising local people open collaborative work spaces in buildings including former shops, offices, libraries and schools.
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