C o m m u n i t y
MilesMoreMinutes F
It would allow our Grandson to ‘get another worry out of his head’
ormer RAF fitter, Peter Hubbard, talks about the ‘Miles More Minutes’ Campaign run by the RAF Association.
Both my son and grandson followed in my footsteps by joining the RAF and currently my grandson Cpl Wayne Rogers is serving as a dog handler in Afghanistan.
Back in the fifties, I can still remember what it was like to have limited contact with home. I was called up to do my National Service when I was nineteen and was quickly shipped out to Singapore. It was exciting, but it almost broke my heart to be away from everyone I knew.
When my son Paul joined up as a chef and went to the Falklands in 1982, I began to understand what it felt like for those left at home. Now my grandson Wayne too finds himself away in Afghanistan and my wife and I are waiting for news all over again.
You would think things would be easier, but they’re not. Phone tapping and harassment of families by the Taliban mean that RAF personnel have to use specialist secure telecommunications. As a result, those serving in Afghanistan are currently allowed the equivalent of 4½ minutes of talk-time a day on the lines provided by the MoD. As you can imagine, as Wayne’s Gran and Grandad, most of our information is passed on by his Mum and Dad.
The ‘Miles More Minutes’ gives more free telephone talk-time to RAF personnel deployed on operations overseas, such as Afghanistan, allowing them to stay more in touch with their families while they are away.
That time would mean such a lot to all of us. Out in a hostile country, it’s more time for Wayne to lift his spirits, get another worry out of his head, and to put our minds at rest. Most of all, it’s time for him to feel just a little closer to everyone at home…even if it is just for a few more minutes a day.
Wayne added: “Leaving your family behind is never easy, for you or for them. It’s even worse when you have to go back and forth to Afghanistan and your family is left worrying. Being able to phone home makes a huge difference. There’s nothing like the sound of your family to make everything feel normal for a while. For those few precious extra minutes I wouldn’t be in Afghanistan – I’d be back at home, part of the family, and enjoying a few laughs.”
If you would like to help, a donation of just £20 would allow an extra six minutes of talk time every day for a month. For more information on our ‘Miles more Minutes’ campaign, visit
www.rafa.org.uk
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Summer 2010
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