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E d i t o r / C h a i r m a n


 From the EDITOR


S


o that was Summer and the school holidays that the children all look forward to for so long have flown by.


Now as they all find their way to new classrooms it is time to take stock. I hope in this issue you will find plenty to interest


you. We hear very little from you as to whether or not you enjoy Envoy. The aim is provide a read that is useful, factual, informative, interesting and enjoyable.


My plea here is that if you do find it any of these things that you do pass it on or recommend it to others. Don’t forget it is available to read online or download from


our website, including all the back copies, and there is still the opportunity to have the magazine sent to your home address free of charge, so do take advantage of the offer.


Good reading The Editor 


From the Deputy Chairman


“Oo ‘R Yer? Oo ‘R Yer?”


Although only launched less than a year ago I would like to think that, judging by the numbers of RAF personnel and their families contacting us, we have done pretty well in raising the profile of the RAF Families Federation in a reasonably short period.


Nevertheless, we are often told when meeting people for the first time “We haven’t heard of you, you need to improve your marketing if you want people to know about you!” It’s a fair point and from their viewpoint we have not done well at all. After all, just how hard can it be in this day and age to make contact with only 41,000 personnel and families within a population of some 60 million?


Throughout my time in the RAF, the size of the RAF was always judged by how it might fit in Wembley Stadium– the old one given my age! When I joined, the RAF could fill the stadium (82,000) with enough personnel remaining to form a good-sized Manchester City away crowd. Despite the size of the RAF then, I do not recall the intensity of information bombarding the senses; those that do spring to mind were: Station Standing Orders (in a glass frame


2 Autumn 2008


at the bus stop outside the Guardroom); Station Routine and After Orders; the RAF News – affectionately known by some as the Dog Handler’s Gazette; along with the one Service magazine I can recall – Air Clues. Today, both the old and new Wembley stadiums would look empty by comparison yet, interestingly, the means and mediums for communication have increased 100-fold, so how have we tried to stand out from the crowd?


To announce our presence we initially focussed on traditional methods: letters and posters to RAF units and as many other Service addresses we could find; our magazine Envoy distributed to MOD, units, HIVE UK and, where there is the means to help distribute them, Service Families Accommodation. In addition, we have tried to visit all the major RAF units and during the summer (defined by calendar rather than the weather) Families Days and briefed a number of RAF courses. We have done much more than I have been able to list but we still recognise that we are not reaching the 12,500 personnel who work at places in the UK and around the world with little, if any, connection with RAF units – And what about RAF families living in their own homes?


A day doesn’t


go past without us thinking of how we can improve our ‘reach’ toward families. You can now read Envoy on our website atwww.raf-families-federation. org.uk (you can subscribe for free if you prefer) and we are continually improving distribution by adding Service addresses all the time. Getting to private addresses of RAF families is more difficult. Quite rightly, we cannot draw on any database for that information and many may not want or have any need to hear from us; we can only ask those who read the magazine at work to keep us in mind and let your family know we exist.


In this edition of Envoy, I hope you can find something of interest, there is even more on the website, but we remain conscious that to grab your attention we must offer something you want; we would welcome your views, good or critical, to help us improve. Finally, our favourite means of communication is talking to you personally, so if you can catch us at a Station visit or Families Day, we would love to see you.


“Where ‘R Yer! Where ‘R Yer!”  www.raf-families-federation.org.uk


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