F o r e w o r d
FOREWORD BY AIR MARSHAL P O STURLEY CB MBE
BSc FRAeS RAF (Retired) President of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA)
A
s President of the Royal Air Forces Association, I have watched with growing optimism the increased profile the Association has achieved with the serving RAF over the last couple of years. Our aspirations to make the
charity more relevant to the modern-day RAF, whilst still remaining true to the original objectives of the Association, started with the Contact Houses project, continued with the provision of Internet Cafes and we continue to explore new and exciting ways of supporting serving personnel and their families affected by operational deployments. Should any units have any proposals for how RAFA might support serving personnel and their families, we would be only too pleased to hear from you.
When the RAF approached us last year and invited us to bid for the contract to manage a new RAF Families Federation, we grasped the invitation with both hands, as we saw it as an ideal opportunity to place RAFA at the centre of the RAF. We believe that RAF personnel and their families deserve an independent voice on issues of concern to them and we also believe that RAFA has the stature, the experience of the RAF lifestyle, and the expertise to deliver a professional service to families.
Everything we have done in setting up this contract has been done from first principles and our first Chairman was literally given a blank piece of paper upon which to design the Federation she felt the families needed and deserved. Obviously, budgets played their part (don’t they always?!) but the Federation is now well and truly
established and is putting to good use the systems and processes that were designed with the specific needs of the RAF families in mind. As the profile of the Federation improves, so there is increasing evidence that the RAF Families Federation is able to take its place beside the well-established Federations of the Army and Naval Families and provide that independent voice in some highly influential circles.
This edition of “Envoy” contains details of the Federation’s contribution to the House Of Commons Defence Committee Inquiry into Recruitment & Retention in the Armed Forces so, if you are in any way sceptical that your views are genuinely reaching the senior staffs, you can rest assured that the voice of RAF families is being heard. After only a few months of operation the Families Federation has, I believe, already justified our faith in bidding for the contract and we at RAFA are delighted to see the newest directorate within our Association go from strength to strength.
How those at the top will act in response to the evidence being presented remains to be seen – we cannot expect instant and overnight success on all fronts. However, there is no doubt that the combined voice of the military families is a powerful one and, if you keep providing the evidence, we are confident that those who can make a difference will respond. I take this opportunity to wish the RAF Families Federation continuing success over the coming year and to confirm RAFA’s absolute commitment to this contract, which we believe forms an important part of the Air Member for Personnel’s “People Campaign”.
CIVVY STREET NEEDS YOUR HELP.
If you are about to leave the Forces and have time to spare, come and work as a part-time volunteer for charity. The organisational skills you learned can be of vital importance to the success of a voluntary organisation - and help give you a new lease of life into the bargain! REACH provides a free job-finding service throughout the UK and could find you a satisfying, voluntary opportunity nearby. Write or phone for details or visit our website at
www.volwork.org.uk
reach 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP
Tel: 020 7582 6543 Registered Charity No 278837
Summer 2008 3
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