Sleaford — 22–24 June 2026

North Kesteven Armed Forces Week

When

10:00 am to 2:00 pm

Location

Kesteven Street
Sleaford
England
NG34 7EF
United Kingdom

The first event to mark the start of Armed Forces Week is planned to take place on Monday 22nd June with the raising of the Armed Forces Flag in the Market Square in Sleaford, Lincolnshire.  This Flag Raising event is the formal element with serving military staff from local bases and local dignitaries meeting schoolchildren, local residents and visitors in an open public space. This event is free to attend and as mentioned in my previous email, we ask for tri service representation from serving members of each military service to participate in the Flag raising event. This is normally accompanied by a serving member of the RAF musician’s service who will play on the bugle while the Armed Forces Flag is being raised. The Flag Raising Ceremony is also blessed by the Vicar of St Denys Church in Sleaford, who is also a serving RAF Reservist Chaplin. As also mentioned previously, the Station Commander from RAF College Cranwell is invited to give a speech often reflecting their thanks and appreciation for local support to their base. RAF Digby are also invited to attend the Flag Raising event and it is also marked by a choir of primary aged children from a local school who will attend and sing a range of military themed songs to the audience.

The second event is free, planned for Monday 22nd June called a ‘Celebration of Military Service’.  Invitations for this event will be sent to family members of deployed serving military from RAF Cranwell and RAF Waddington, Veterans, veteran charities, reservists and local combined cadet forces. Typically, we can host over 100 guests within the Council Chamber at NKDC and we normally operate a reserve list for cancellations for the event.

This year, (as mentioned previously), our events will carry the theme of the 90 years of Bomber Command (International Bomber Command Centre as its also known as). We invite serving personnel (and families of deployed serving military) to attend this lunch specifically with the aim of tri-service representation from across local military bases. This is done via the involvement of the Station Warrant Officer from RAF College Cranwell within our working group but also the contacts we have with Community Development officers located on the military bases within our District (RAF Waddington and RAF College Cranwell).  A highlight for the event will be speech from the Station Commander at RAF College Cranwell as we invite them to reflect on the year since the previous Armed Forces week and to share with us the challenges they have faced. The theme for last year’s event was the 80th Anniversary of VE and VJ Day and as part of the Lunch, there was a feature of the footage played before and after the lunch that captured VE Day celebrations from across the country. The films shown were from the British Film Institute’s collection and from the Voices of War series by the Imperial War Museum. For this year’s Lunch – we have the theme of the 90 Anniversary of Bomber Command, and the CEO of International Bomber Command Centre will be invited to give a talk on the importance and relevance Bomber Command has and still plays today. An invitation is also sent to the Lord Lieutenant for Lincolnshire and High Sherrif for Lincolnshire to join us at the Lunch.

The third event we hold for Armed Forces Week 2026, also marks Reservists Day which we will hold on Wednesday 24th June and is called our Military Marketplace. This free to attend event takes place at our Council Chamber in North Kesteven, Sleaford. In 2025  When we held this event last year, it attracted over 200 people (including serving military, families, veterans and military charities). This event is promoted through our Armed Forces Working Group channels; our Armed Forces Covenant Officer for Lincolnshire as well as normal Council communication channels such as social media and print. Serving military staff are invited to attend this Military Market event along with anyone with a connection to the military. Showcasing the event will be military charities, military veteran organisations, reservists, those representing statutory organisations such as the NHS, District and  County Councils.

The third event we hold for Armed Forces Week 2026, also marks Reservists Day which we will hold on Wednesday 24th June and is called our Military Marketplace. This free to attend event takes place at our Council Chamber in North Kesteven, Sleaford. In 2025  When we held this event last year, it attracted over 200 people (including serving military, families, veterans and military charities). This event is promoted through our Armed Forces Working Group channels; our Armed Forces Covenant Officer for Lincolnshire as well as normal Council communication channels such as social media and print. Serving military staff are invited to attend this Military Market event along with anyone with a connection to the military. Showcasing the event will be military charities, military veteran organisations, reservists, those representing statutory organisations such as the NHS, District and  County Councils.

The third event we hold for Armed Forces Week 2026, also marks Reservists Day which we will hold on Wednesday 24th June and is called our Military Marketplace. This free to attend event takes place at our Council Chamber in North Kesteven, Sleaford. In 2025  When we held this event last year, it attracted over 200 people (including serving military, families, veterans and military charities). This event is promoted through our Armed Forces Working Group channels; our Armed Forces Covenant Officer for Lincolnshire as well as normal Council communication channels such as social media and print. Serving military staff are invited to attend this Military Market event along with anyone with a connection to the military. Showcasing the event will be military charities, military veteran organisations, reservists, those representing statutory organisations such as the NHS, District and  County Councils.