Women Veterans Debate Team 'Own The Room' In House of Commons

The Forward Assist Debating Society were delighted to facilitate a visit to the House of Commons on 24th May 2022. During lockdown and with funding from the AFCFT we were able to train 40 women veteran’s in the art of British Parliamentary Debate in partnership with Parallel Histories, Cambridge Union Debating Society. We also arranged for additional mental health resilience training as many people felt overwhelmed by anxiety caused by repeated lockdowns and social isolation. This was provided by Professor Steve Peters, Chimp Management team.

An early start on the 24th allowed us to include an educational tour of the Palace of Westminster, kindly arranged for the women veterans by Sarah Atherton MP. This was followed by a demonstration debate from the women veterans proposition team on whether UK armed forces service charities were doing enough for women veterans. The opposition team won the debate with an overwhelming majority of the audience voting in their favour. A great day was had by all.