Congratulations to Cumbria Paramedic Simon Walton, who recently received a prestigious Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VHCA) merit coin in recognition of his fantastic work supporting veterans.

The coin is given to individuals or teams who have shown extraordinary commitment to removing disadvantage for the armed forces community.

Simon has been a member of our staff Armed Forces Network since it was established in 2022 – currently serving as vice-chair – and is also chair of the Appleby and district branch for Royal British Legion. He said:

“Having spent over 22 years volunteering with the RAF cadets before resigning my commission last year, and over 21 years with the Royal British Legion, I am very passionate about the support we can offer to our ex-forces community.

“The network not only supports our armed forces reserves, veterans, cadets, and volunteers who work for NWAS, but also veterans within our communities. I feel receiving this award is testament to the hard work that we do.” 

He was nominated for the medal by Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) Advisor Wasim Mir. He said:

“Simon’s conviction and commitment to the armed forces and supporting veterans both in NWAS and out, is truly inspirational.

“He’s been an instrumental part of our Armed Forces Network since before it was even established, supported us to become a Veteran Aware organisation, and led many commemorations and events for memorial days and to recognise and pay respect to armed forces colleagues.

“Not only has he had a distinguished career, he exemplifies what public service is about, and his sense of duty and support to others is an inspiration and role model to NWAS and our forces communities. Congratulations Simon.”

Last year Simon attended the annual VHCA conference in Liverpool, which marked the 10 year anniversary of the Chavasse report – which highlighted improvements to healthcare services for veterans.

There he had the honour of meeting WO2 Johnson Beharry VC – the only serving holder of the Victoria Cross.