Are you, or anyone you know, part of the UK Armed Forces community? We would love to hear from you!
We would love to hear from you!
Welcome to Real Stories, an online gallery of images submitted by the UK Armed Forces community. Real Stories provides the opportunity to view the UK Armed Forces community’s experiences through their own lens, and presented in a way of their choosing. We hope this virtual art gallery will be educational, informative, and will help raise awareness and understanding of what life is like for the Armed Forces community. We are inviting members of the UK Armed Forces community to submit one or more images that capture meaningful life events.
Please note: contributors must be 18 years or over. However, adults can submit entries on behalf of children under the age of 18 years.
Submissions for 2024
Don’t worry if your question is not answered here, you can always get in touch to ask us your question!
What we’re looking for…
We welcome submissions from anybody who is connected to the Armed Forces community in some way to submit one or more images that capture meaningful life events. When we say meaningful life events, we’re thinking: moving house, family changes (e.g. having a baby), leaving service, moving school and promotion.
Meaningful can also be having a cup of tea with friends, family or loved ones.
How can I take part?
Submit a digital image (JPEG or PNG format) that reflects a meaningful life event for you. If you would like to, include a written contribution to go alongside your submission about what the image represents to you. These will be presented alongside your image in the Real Stories 2024 album (these comments can remain anonymous if you wish, just let us know). Images need to be family friendly as the gallery will be viewed by all ages.
You can also email your submission to real@kcl.ac.uk.
Please note: contributors must be 18 years or over. However, adults can submit entries on their behalf.
Where will my image(s) be posted?
The submissions will be presented in an online gallery. All images will also be on display as a slideshow at the King’s Centre for Military Health Research Veterans’ Mental Health conference 2024.
The project team reserve the right to select which submitted images are on display.
Terms and conditions
By submitting your entry, you confirm that your entry is your own original work, is not defamatory and does not infringe any UK laws or third-party rights, and that there are no conflicting agreements in place that restrict usage of your entry. You also confirm that you are the sole owner of the copyright in the entry and you have followed the relevant guidelines regarding images from the UK Armed Forces, for example, you can find the Army ones here.
By submitting your entry you confirm that you have full permission from anybody who features in the image. If the photograph includes a minor (person under the age of 18) you also confirm you have permission from their parent or legal guardian to submit the entry.
In accordance with the GDPR and Data Protection Act, all personal data included in the submission (such as email address and contact details) will be held securely and only accessed by the project team.
