Campaign to promote Armed Forces benefits a success

A campaign promoting discounts for the Armed Forces Community in Wales has seen huge successes.

Running for six months, the Defence Discount Service campaign was launched in November 2014 by the 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, which ended yesterday, 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, and:
• Increase the number of independent retailers accepting the Defence Privilege Card within Wales to over 50 stores

Leighton Andrews said:

“Exceeding our targets so early in the campaign was a very positive indication that our message was reaching those who needed to hear it.

“That we could celebrate the end of the campaign the same week we marked Armed Forces Day made its successes even more significant.”

The campaign has seen many businesses in Wales sign up to support the Armed Forces and Veterans communities in Wales by accepting the Defence Privilege Card in their stores. 82 local independent retailers in Wales have signed up to the card in addition to 75 national retailers.

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.