GENERAL QUOTES
“We still feel neglected for all the sacrifices we, and our families, make for the love of serving in the RAF.”
“Social care is an area that should be looked at. We went from receiving respite for our son to none, even though his social worker filled in and forwarded paperwork to the area we were moving into. The incoming area said they did not know about us, started everything from the beginning and we waited 6 months with nothing before the initial respite processes began again.”
“The Covenant is a great idea in principle. However the promises made before the Covenant was brought in, have not been delivered. Yet again the government imply many great schemes and ideas, and then deliver a sub-standard provision. There seems no accountability, and no great interest in delivering the promises of the Covenant. The Covenant is supposed to make Military personnel and their families feel secure and appreciated. Morale has never been so low in the Armed Forces and that has a dramatic effect on family life. It puts increased pressures and strains on relationships, something which never seems to be truly appreciated by the higher ranks or government itself.”
“The Armed Forces Covenant intent should be applauded but we need to see genuine and measurable results from it at desk level before our people will look on it with anything more than cynicism”.
“If the Armed Forces Covenant is not firmly in my RADAR as a Serviceman, how can I expect agencies outside of the Service to be aware of their responsibilities? Should my family and I carry a card in our wallets to produce to an agency when needed?”
“After 10 years of being a wife I can honestly say I’ve had enough of what this forces life holds. I appreciate that my husband is on a deployable unit but it is just getting ridiculous and with more cuts is this going to get worse? I don’t know why the Covenant was introduced if the government can’t honour it; family life is getting harder not easier.”
“The government should make it mandatory for local authorities to adopt and implement the Armed Forces Covenant.”
“Being a Service family is as restrictive as you choose it to be. I work with people who have no service backgrounds and it makes a refreshing change. My job has enabled me to learn new skills and be more confident in my abilities. Living away from the main camp also gives you a sense of living in the real world and will make it much easier to make a transition to our own house. Some people cannot live away from camp and find it hard to make the transition from Serving to Civvy. Some wives will not work away from the station and then complain that there are no jobs in the local area. Some Service people will not integrate into the local community or support local businesses and pubs but then wonder why the locals do not welcome them with open arms. But there should be more support with housing for those who have had to leave the Service earlier than intended, through illness or injury. And those of us in SFA should have a better standard, because if this was my house I would not tolerate such shoddy maintenance. The government should also stop the redundancies for a period of maybe 4 years. The country cannot support so many out of work people and many do not have the transferable skills. All in all though my family and I have a good life.”
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The Armed Forces Covenant
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