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Visit Report RAF Brize Norton

Brize Norton, one of the largest RAF Stations, played host to the RAF Families Federation last week. The unit liaison visit provided an invaluable opportunity for RAF personnel and their families to meet the Federation Staff and to raise issues of concern to them.

The worries of serving single parents was one of the issues raised and one that the RAF Families Federation promised to pursue. The Federations’ Issues Manager, Jenny Ward, said, “Since our launch we have been made aware of many issues affecting single parents including childcare and deployment. We would ask Service personnel with concerns to contact the Federation at: www.raf-ff.org.uk”

Still in its first year of operation, the RAF Families Federation team were keen to inform the serving RAF and their families at Brize Norton of the Federation’s role, its independence of the RAF, its high profile link with senior RAF staff and ministers and the unrivalled opportunity this gave families in getting their voices heard.

The relationship is, of course, two way and the Federation staffs were keen to see the working of such a large operational unit. The visit began with a thorough and informative brief from the OC Base Support Wing and OC Personnel Management Squadron. The team then headed for a windscreen tour of the Service Family Accommodation estate and look inside an empty quarter. A representative from Defence Estates was on hand and able to provide a overview of the housing issues faced by the families.

A visit to the impressive Day Nursery was a hit with the Federation team as was a chance to look around the Integrated Welfare Facility and HIVE. It gave the team an opportunity to meet key staff and gave an indication of the extent of the support facilities available to serving personnel and their families.

The Federation team went on to meet parents and tots in the Millennium Centre and for a hectic 30 minutes there was talk about station life and how families cope when spouses/partners are on deployment. Discussions highlighted that some families were unaware of the extensive welfare support already in place on the Station.

Dawn McCafferty, the RAF FF Chairman, delivered a presentation to Station representatives, Service personnel and families in the Officers’ Mess. An open forum discussion raised many interesting points and questions including the relationship between the RAF FF and the chain of command. Dawn was keen to reassure those present that the Federation’s line was always to encourage family members, including Service personnel, to seek help and support from their unit staffs in the first instance. One particular issue raised during the lunch break was single parenthood and the challenges posed for both the individual, the child(ren) and the Service, particularly when OOA deployments came into play. The RAF FF promised to take up the point, alongside the broader issue of partnerships to collect evidence and to hopefully influence future policy.

After a splendid lunch in the Mess, the Federation team met with Community Support Staffs in the Oasis Café where the Federation team learned how the key players worked together.

The RAF FF team left Brize Norton with a greater understanding of the workings of a large operational unit and the issues of concern. The team will take the evidence, information, observations and experiences and use it in the best possible way. Elements have already been incorporated into reports to MOD and the House of Commons Defence Committee.

The RAF Families Federation would like to thank OC BSW and her team for arranging what was an extremely worthwhile visit and look forward to returning to RAF Brize Norton in the future to see how their community projects are developing.

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