F e a t u r e s
RAF SPORTS FACILITIES – CAN I USE THEM?
O
n many stations the sports facilities often rival or exceed those offered
by the local civilian authority but can anyone else use them? Squadron Leader Brett Nicholls, PEd Support and PTI Trade Sponsor, explains:
Sport and physical activity play an important part in the development of attributes required of all RAF personnel. It contributes to military effectiveness by encouraging personal qualities such as courage, resilience and esprit de corps. The RAF has a very well defined policy for sport and fitness and one element of this policy includes the provision of well maintained and modern sports facilities and equipment. On many stations these facilities and their associated equipment often rival and sometimes exceed those offered by the local civilian authority.
Funding for all Station sports facilities and equipment is obtained from a number of sources: public funds (money granted to the Armed Forces from the Government) and non-public funds (money generated on-station by subscriptions etc). It should be remembered that the provision of these facilities is primarily to allow Service personnel to remain ‘fit to fight’ and thus Service personnel will always have priority use. Notwithstanding this fact the Armed Forces have a long standing policy that allows military sports facilities to be used by Service families, MOD employed civilians and civilian organisations when not required for Service use.
While civilians, including Service families, can use Service facilities there is the serious question of insurance. Most Stations address this issue collectively by ensuring that all civilians who use the facilities are members of
the ‘Civilian Sports Club’. In simple terms this is a register of all civilians who wish to use the station sports facilities and have paid an annual subscription to do so. This annual subscription covers a contribution to the Station Sports Equipment fund and a contribution to the cost of generic third party liability insurance as a guard against a claim for injury against the Station.
The really good news for dependants is that generally the use of recreation facilities are free or exceptionally cheap. It is however, strongly recommended that all dependants who use Station recreation facilities have their own personal accident and life insurance as you would not be covered by the Station's 3rd Party liability insurance for accidents and injuries caused through no fault of the Service. The Station Physical Education Flight (PEd Flt) will provide details of local rules and regulations pertaining to your Station’s recreation facilities including any charges for membership. Of course, before you will be allowed to use fitness equipment you will be expected to undergo a local gym induction session. Many units have access to facilities out-of-hours by swipe cards and you may be charged a small deposit for one of these cards. Service personnel will always have priority use of facilities and if overcrowding occurs Service personnel and dependants will have priority over civilian members. The use of sports facilities by persons under 16 is forbidden unless they are supervised by an authorised adult.
The cost of membership of this ‘Civilian Sports Club’ would typically be somewhere between £20 - £50 per year. This cost covers use of the full range of facilities, squash courts, fitness suite, tennis courts etc. Compare this cost against the costs of joining and using either the local authority or private sports club
– usually a minimum of £200 per year and often there are additional costs to be borne. For example, fitness/ aerobic classes are, on average, £6 per session; a booking fee for use of courts for racquet sports is common. It is clear that Station sports facilities offer dependants fantastic value.
What is on offer to you at Stations? Most Station facilities will boast a fitness and health suite offering both aerobic and resistance machines. Some facilities also offer a weights training area. There are usually football pitches, perhaps an all weather sports pitch as well as squash and tennis courts available at no extra cost. There will be indoor facilities for badminton, netball and a whole myriad of indoor sports. At some Stations there is also a swimming pool, opening hours for this facility will vary greatly depending on Service training requirements but each swimming pool will have a timetable detailing ‘public’ sessions. In addition to this there are sports clubs and activities available to dependants. These could range from ‘circuit training’ (an aerobic based training session) run by the Physical Training Instructor (PTI) to netball training or fencing. There may be a small fee for joining these clubs or activities depending on how the club is structured, it is best to ask the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the activity for the particulars of that club.
The facilities that are available at a RAF station are well kept and available for your use. They rival those of the local authority but have the incentive of being very cheap or even free. The benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle are well documented and advice and encouragement on developing and maintaining an active lifestyle can usually be obtained from the Physical Education Flight. Why not visit your local gym and find out more information. After all, what is there to lose?
Winter 2007 17
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