Where we started

Back in 2019, Beacon Alerts started with a fairly simple idea: when someone from our UK military community goes missing or is at risk, the information being shared should be clear, accurate and useful, because it could literally save lives.

We wanted to standardise the way alerts were put out, encourage veterans and members of the wider Armed Forces community to get involved with information sharing and ground searches, support the police where appropriate, and ultimately help bring about positive outcomes.

Since then, Beacon has grown through a number of different iterations. We have run Facebook communities and WhatsApp groups, developed a public API, worked on guidance around responsible information sharing, and placed increasing importance on something that is often forgotten after a successful locate: a person's right to recover, regain their privacy and move on.

Today, we are proud to officially launch the Beacon public BETA, in what we feel is the natural, best next step in the Beacon journey.

Beacon is a social network built specifically for veterans, serving personnel and their families. A place focused on mutual support, peer-to-peer interaction, useful information, and helping people discover the groups, charities, organisations and services that already do brilliant work across the military community.

It is also the new home of Beacon Alerts.

We want Beacon to once again help set the standard for how information related to missing and at-risk personnel is shared within our community: quickly when it matters, responsibly throughout, and with privacy restored when an alert has ended.

But Beacon is much more than an alert system.

We want this to become a place where somebody can ask a question, share an experience, find a local group, discover something useful, support somebody having a difficult day, or simply talk to other people who understand military life.

Most importantly, Beacon belongs to the community.

No judgement, no need to explain the basics of military life before having a conversation, just like-minded people with a shared history and hope for a bright future.

This is a public BETA, so things will change. Features will be added, some things will inevitably break, and the platform will continue to develop around the people using it.

That is exactly how we want to build it.

Welcome to Beacon.

Built for the military community. Shaped by the military community.