RAF Families Federation give an Update on BFBS

Patrick Eade of BFBS interviews Ann Dewar, Comms Manager at the Federation, on the latest work going on on behalf of RAF Families. Subjects discussed include the latest survey results on Pay, Pension, X-factor, redundancies, the Federation survey coming up in Sep on the support to RAF Families and the Federation’s magazine Envoy…More information »

Future Accommodation -Your views go to MoD

Housing and accommodation issues dominate the Federation database. On the policy front, families are becoming more frustrated with current regulations and frequently implore the Federation to challenge the existing rules. Taking action – The Federation produces a number of evidence reports based on the concerns raised and this report to the Future Accommodation Project (FAP) team is a welcome opportunity to ensure the ‘light blue’ perspective on accommodation is represented at the highest levels. There may be differences in opinion between the Services but that is for the FAP team to take into account when coming up with an accommodation Strategy to suit the Armed Services of the future. As well as the report, read the comments made by those who completed the RAF FF Future Accommodation survey. They demonstrate the strength of feeling evoked by this subject…More information »

Last Day of our Competition to Win tickets for RIAT

Your chance to win a pair of tickets to see the action. The organisers of the Royal International Air Tattoo have very kindly offered a pair of tickets to attend RIAT on Sunday 17th July 11, (worth £78). All you have to do is to find Bobby the Brave on one of the Federation website pages and answer the question he asks. Click on the link to send your answer, name and contact number. Closing date for the draw is 9am on Wed 13 Jul 11…More information »

Find Bobby the Brave amongst our website pages for your chance to win a pair of tickets to the Royal International Air Tattoo on Sun 17 Jul 11. Closing date 9am Wed 13 Jul 11. Good Luck!  www.raf-ff.org.uk

Our Stories in RAF News – Falling Foul of the Great Divide

Dear Families Federation, I write to inform you (objectively) how our assignment from Scotland to England hindered us. While in Scotland, our son was referred to a paediatrician. A referral allowed us access to occupational therapy, speech therapy, a play specialist and a health visitor which was just what we needed and we were impressed. The paediatrician thought our son probably had autism. At about the same time, my husband was posted. My husband did request we stay in the Grampian region but was told, “There are NHS doctors wherever you are sent. ”After moving, all the Oxfordshire services placed us on waiting lists. We tried in vain to get him seen. There is no preference for RAF families, despite the policy letter suggesting as such, but they would not budge. The authorities stated the reports from Scotland were invalid. We found we were repeating the same information over and over again. I felt as if we were being treated with disdain and no compassion. It is stressful to move for any Service family, but for a special needs family, it is mind boggling…More information »

“Go On-line and Get Involved”

Jenny Ward, Evidence Manager at the RAF Families Federation, in an interview with BFBS Radio, encourages RAF Serving personnel and their families to ‘Go on-line and get involved’ and particularly wished to encourage personnel and family members to complete the Federation’s newly launched on-line surveys. Jenny was attending a families event at Brize Norton organised by Mel Bushnell of the HIVE. Jenny said: “We are promoting our on-line survey activity. The surveys are password protected and will be rolled out across the RAF over the next few months but if anyone is really keen to come on-line and tell us what they think now then give the team a call and they will provide the password”.Shirley Swain asked Jenny the issues the Federation was coming up against at the moment, about the impact of SDSR, the move from Lyneham to Brize, future housing and other issues of concern…See full details

Our Stories in RAF News – I am Absolutely Petrified

The wife of a serviceman is petrified about what is going on. She worries that after a long commitment to the RAF her husband could lose his job. She worries that he may not even qualify for a full pension if he isn’t allowed to reach his full-term exit point.  She fears the Government will change the allowances so we won’t get the resettlement money they were counting on to get a mortgage after years of living in SFA.  Click for story

The 2010 RAF FF Annual Report is now available

The 2010 RAF FF Annual Report  is now available. Included are the top level results of the evidence gathered last year. http://www.raf-families-federation.org.uk/

Dawn Goes Before the Defence Select Committee

Yesterday Dawn McCafferty, Chairman of the RAF Families Federation was invited to give evidence before the Defence Select Committee. The inquiry is the first in a series looking at the military covenant and the welfare support given to members of the Armed Forces including members of the Reserve Forces and veterans. Dawn spoke on behalf of RAF Serving personnel and their families. Following the session Dawn said: “It was interesting to see the Families Federations offered the first evidence session… By starting this Inquiry from the family’s perspective, the Committee is clearly committed to understanding the impact of either a death or a serious injury on the wider family… My key messages to the Inquiry included my observation that the RAF is clearly committed to delivering the best support it can to families facing such tragic, difficult and often life-changing circumstances…I welcomed the opportunity to contribute to this Inquiry and hope that the Committee will provide a focus on all aspects of post casualty care…More information »

Gearing up to Hit the Road

The RAF Families Federation is in ever-increasing demand to provide independent evidence on a wide range of family-related issues. To feed this requirement for independent evidence, the team are about to go out on the road around the RAF again, seeking evidence from family members, both serving and non-serving. Current plans include visits to: Henlow; Honington; Brize Norton; High Wycombe; Waddington, RAF personnel at Ramstein; and a unit in Scotland. Themes for this year’s evidence-gathering activities are: Future Accommodation; RAF Way of Life; and Impact of the SDSR. Workshops with RAF Youth and with Reservists will also continue this year. An exciting development for 2011 is our plan to launch our surveys on-line and, as well as those listed before, we intend to gather evidence on Childcare; Employment Opportunities for Non-Serving Family Members, and Definition of Family. We’d love to hear from you… More information »