- 06/07/2015
- Posted by: Mike Hedges MS
- Category: Press Releases
A campaign to promote discounts for the Armed Forces Community in Wales has been hailed as a big success.
Mike Hedges said …. ‘ I welcome news that this scheme to give something back to people serving in the armed services is such a success. Men and women who give so much for their country deserve a small recognition from their home communities. If any retailer has not yet signed up to be a part of the scheme I urge them to do so.
The six month Defence Discount Service campaign was launched in November 2014 by Welsh Labour’s Public Services Minister, Leighton Andrews.
At the start of the campaign 9,734 members had signed up to the card in Wales. Figures reported at the campaign’s end show 14,284 people have signed up, an increase of 47% in Wales, compared to 16% in the rest of the UK over the same period.
The campaign had reached its targets by February. It aimed to:
• Raise awareness amongst Wales’ Armed Forces Community of the benefits of the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Defence Discount Service and its discount card, the Defence Privilege Card.
• Increase membership in Wales to 25% of those eligible.
• Increase the number of independent retailers accepting the Defence Privilege Card within Wales to over 50 stores. The campaign has seen 82 local independent retailers and 75 national retailers in Wales sign up to the card to support the Armed Forces and Veterans communities in Wales by accepting the Defence Privilege Card in their stores
The Defence Privilege Card is available to current and ex service personnel and gives card holders discounts on a range of goods and services at over a thousand high street businesses and companies across the UK.
