Here for veterans and their families

On Saturday 28th February 2026, LVC’s female staff and dedicated volunteers had the absolute pleasure of hosting a group of awe inspiring female veterans, and many empowering women from our partner organisations that support them, at our THIRD Networking Event and Afternoon Tea in the beautiful Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh.

These events get bigger and better each time and the women were welcomed to this one by our piper, Sean. We were also joined by the handsome Clyde , a BRAVEHOUND puperoo who came along with Ali! We must also give a big shout out to Pip, from Operation Cairngorms CIC, one of our trusted partners, and THE FIRST female Army Commando!

We want to say a massive thank you to Susie Hamilton, the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, who delivered an engaging address, and to Liza Jarvis, Female Veterans’ Transformation Programme Lead, who updated us on their online toolkit and who highlighted that, out of all the devolved nations, Scotland had leaned in most to offer support. Susie and Liza have supported LVC’s female veterans’ project, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, since it began 2 years ago and we are especially grateful to them.

We would also like to say a big thank you to Dr Alethea McHardy, a Consultant in Sport, Exercise and Rehab Medicine, working for the MoD as clinical lead for Scotland and Germany. Alethea is undertaking a PhD in health outcomes for female veterans in Scotland and she chose our event to launch her much needed project for female veterans and servicewomen ‘Her Service Her Health!

We also want to say a massive thank you to Peter from Dundee Gin who came to support us again and who brought his delicious array of gins to taste and buy and provided all the goodie bags for our attendees.

A huge thank you also goes out to Rebecca, an Army veteran, who came all the way from Elgin to offer crafts and helped the women personalise some keyrings, coasters and bookmarks to take away. A hoofing shout also out goes to Carole, a Royal Navy veteran, who very kindly made and donated the delicious Scottish tablet for our attendees and who drove a 4 hour round trip from Gourock to Edinburgh to deliver the tablet as she couldn’t attend the event because she was so unwell. A stellar example of just how resilient and remarkable our veterans are!

A great big thank you also goes to Grace, a Royal Navy veteran, and also of our longstanding and hard working volunteers and board members, and to her family for donating the fabulous hamper for our raffle! We raised a fantastic £665!

This was a day of fun, shared experiences and purpose, where the atmosphere was uplifting and buzzing, and where former servicewomen from all over Scotland could connect, collaborate and celebrate their service in a tri-service environment.

We can’t wait for the next one!