The leader of Brent Council has vowed to help war veterans and their families integrate into civilian life after signing a special pledge yesterday.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Cllr Muhammed Butt signs a pledge of support for the military called the Armed Forces Covenant.Cllr Muhammed Butt signs a pledge of support for the military called the Armed Forces Covenant. (Image: Archant)

Cllr Muhammed Butt played host to a Major General and other high ranking military figures at the civic centre where he signed up the Armed Forces Covenant. The covenant is a mutual pledge that the civilian population and its local armed forces community make to work better together to support veterans.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Cllr Muhammed Butt signs a pledge of support for the military called the Armed Forces Covenant.Cllr Muhammed Butt signs a pledge of support for the military called the Armed Forces Covenant. (Image: Archant)

By signing up, Brent can access money from a £30million grant to pay for projects and initiatives that specifically support veterans and their families.

These could include schemes allowing veterans to have better access to, housing, education, employment and health; as well as education programmes for civilians about the issues and difficulties veterans face.

Cllr Butt said: “I’m really proud to be the first leader of Brent Council to sign up to this agreement and I hope that by being part of the Covenant we can make a real change to veterans’ lives in the borough.”

Major General Edward Smyth-Osbourne, who also signed the Covenant said: “We are tremendously grateful for the support now being given to our Armed Forces. Military life can put a lot of strain on our soldiers and families - support from local communities is really important.

“We very much hope that the residents of Brent will benefit from this as well - we’re proud to be part of your community.”

For more information about the Armed Forces Covenant visit www.gov.uk.