COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT ON RAF HIVE
Here we turn the spotlight on Babs Blundell-Smith, Head of RAF HIVE Information Service. Interview by Vron Wotton, RAF Leuchars
Babs, if you had to describe yourself in one sentence, what would you say? Conscientious and approachable, who loves digging in the garden and walking the dogs, and has a startling loud laugh!
What and when was your first involvement with the military? My father served with the Kings Own Border Regiment for 22 yrs. He was a RSM so I learnt how to stand to attention at an early age! After I qualified as a nurse and then midwife I subsequently went on to serve in the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC), I was fortunate to have postings to far flung postings of Dhekelia in Cyprus; Berlin (before the wall came down..), Rinteln in Northern Germany and last but not least, sunny Catterick. Then came 15 years of ‘following the flag’. So you could say that I have seen it from a few angles.
How long have you been Head of RAF HIVE?
I started out in 2001 as a HIVE Information Officer (HIO), for a short time, at RAF Marham then was appointed as a Regional HIVE Manager with a swathe of Lincolnshire/ Cambridgeshire based RAF and Army HIVEs to oversee. 2009 saw an increase in the number of RAF HIVEs coming within my area of responsibility and the relinquishment of Army HIVEs to Army Brigade Managers. I then became a RAF HIVE Manager and started working with RAF Community Support staff at Air Command and RAF HIVEs became fully embedded within RAF Community Support at
Station and Command level. Subsequently, when the delivery of the HIVE service went single service in Dec 10 as a result of HIVE staff becoming civil servants, I became Head of RAF HIVE.
Do you see the role of HIVE Information Officer changing?
The old adage of ‘Flexibility is the name of the game…’ works well for RAF HIVEs. From providing new recruits and trainees with information support to facilitating deployment support events. The RAF HIO is a key worker within RAF Community Support. They act in a pivotal role as a focal point on the Unit for new arrivals, providing information and referral support during a posting and when the boxes are being packed for another move. This includes the core information areas of education, employment, healthcare, housing and of course, local information. In particular, if you have a query about finding a job in your local area then ask at your HIVE. As well as having useful local knowledge, they will have contact with the nearest Job Centre Plus and where there is a Armed Forces Job Centre Champion (someone who is designated to assist service families to find employment) they will be able to point you in the right direction….
Over the course of the last four years there has been significant increase in the involvement of HIOs with deployment support to operations, from assisting other Community Support staff with the provision of deployment
resources, including HIVE Deployment Support Packs, Talking Tins, Staying Positive Charts, Deployment Journals, Leisure Voucher schemes, Storybook Wings etc to attending pre-deployment briefings, deployment events and being there if the going gets tough.
So whilst I do not foresee a drastic change to the role, flexibility is key to the work of a HIO and that will continue as we face changes and the challenges.
What do you feel about HIVE now being single service? It is very much business as usual. Having had a well respected and valued rock bed from tri-Service HIVE days, whilst the delivery of the HIVE service is now single service led, RAF HIVE Information Officers continue to deliver their information and referral service to all within their communities and more often than not they are tri-Service communities. The focus is on ensuring that the customer receives the very best service we can provide.
So wherever you are serving or living you can contact a HIVE, check out www.
raf.mod.uk/community/support/ rafhiveinformationservice.cfm for details of your nearest RAF HIVE.
If you do not have a RAF HIVE close to you then please use the ‘Contact Us’ button at
www.raf.mod.uk/community/contact us and we will get back to you…
You ask… We Answer 46 Envoy Winter 2012
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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