Community involvement is at the core of our mission. We actively form partnerships, volunteer time and participate in charitable, educational, and military-related organisations. We are dedicated to supporting our communities and giving back to them in the same way they give to us.
Supporting our local communities
We are more than just a local employer. We recognise that we can play a positive role in the continued development of our communities, whether supporting local charitable causes or helping to strengthen our local economy by participating in government initiatives.
In recent years, General Dynamics UK has been a regular supporter of the Hastings Half Marathon and St Michael’s Hospice in Hastings. We’re also a proud sponsor of the national academy for Disability Sport Wales.
We operate a Charitable Contributions Committee made up of employees from all our sites. They are responsible for reviewing all the charity and fundraising applications received by the Company and decide where they’d like to see our donations go.
Supporting our next-generation STEM students
We are passionate about investing in students studying Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) – our future generation of employees.
As part of our commitment, we are proud to work with a number of schools and colleges within the UK to promote careers in our field. Employees, graduates and apprentices across our sites are committed to promoting STEM as an attractive career option through a variety of activities.
We attend local careers fairs to promote our graduate scheme and apprentice programme, give talks about our Company at local schools and colleges, and collaborate with students on STEM-related projects.
Click here to download our STEM Activity Challenge
Supporting our Armed Forces community
In September 2013, General Dynamics UK was one of the initial signatories of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant, which sets out the moral obligation of society towards members of the Armed Forces community. It enables businesses and charitable organisations to express their support and commit to ways in which they can provide that support.
In 2022, we were delighted to receive confirmation that we had been re-validated with a Gold Award status by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) in their Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, which recognises UK employers that demonstrate a commitment to defence by proactively supporting the Armed Forces community and inspiring others to do the same.
As part of the commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant, we have formed an Armed Forces Network for employees – meeting each quarter as an open forum lunchtime session to encourage employee’s engagement with the covenant and to discuss ways to further support the armed forces community. Awareness of the covenant is also promoted through visits and briefings by members of the armed forces. Our General Dynamics UK Covenant can be found here.
To further show support for the Armed Forces community, we regularly support Armed Forces charities, including ABF – The Soldiers’ Charity, Combat Stress and SSAFA. We also actively support events such as Reserves Day and Armed Forces Day with the #SaluteOurForces campaign.