A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FOR RAF FAMILIES
COMMUNITY
Keeping RAF Families Together
by Alex Biflico of the RAF Association
Throughout 2012, the RAF Association has continued to offer help and support to past and present members of the RAF and their families. Here we highlight one struggling family from Edinburgh who were helped tremendously by the support the Association could provide.
F
ormer Senior Aircraftsman Pappinder (Pindi) Singh served with the RAF. As an Aircraft Mechanic specialising
in air frames. After leaving the RAF he took up a role with the Royal Mail in Edinburgh, where he lives now with his wife Asha and their four children.
But the family faced real difficulties. Their daughter, Sukhveer was diagnosed with junior arthritis and has to attend a clinic each week for blood tests and painful injections.
Asha, Pindi’s wife, is confined to a wheelchair and spends long, painful periods in bed. She suffers blindness in one eye and severe pain from a prolapsed disc, which has made it impossible for her to look after the children.
Pindi, as the main carer, struggled to look after his family and had to take extended time off from his job with stress, which caused severe financial difficulties. As an
incredibly proud man he was determined to continue working to support his family and not rely on benefits, but the potential loss of the family home and a break up of family life became a very real possibility.
Pindi also found it very difficult and frustrating to deal with local agencies to try and get help looking after his family while he was at work. The RAF Association’s Scotland Area welfare team, working with the Assistant Welfare Officer for the Edinburgh, Lothians & Borders branch, in a co-ordinated approach with the RAF Benevolent Fund, stepped in with financial help.
By alleviating the strain of the financial debt, the RAF Association allowed Pindi to be more flexible in his working hours with his employers. Childcare costs were also
www.raf-ff.org.uk
covered by the extra money made available each month.
By providing a new, suitable bed upstairs for Asha’s disabilities, their lounge, which was being used as Asha’s bedroom has returned to a family room making it easier to be able to live as a family once again.
Pindi and the family are still struggling but they are hugely grateful to the Association and members of Scotland Area for the support they received. Pindi said: “I don’t know where I would be without the RAF Association’s help and support, it has made a really big difference to my life.”
If you know of any members of the RAF Family who might be in need of support go to
www.rafa.org.uk/help
Envoy Autumn 2012 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56