COMMUNITY
Priceless expressions of Love
The Christmas period is a difficult time for RAF families who are apart. Here the RAF Association offers two initiatives that can be of great comfort.
F
or those in Afghanistan, there is Wings Video Mail available. This is a service where you can record a 60 second video
message free of charge that you can send to your loved ones at home.
With this service you can record and send as many messages as you like – all you need to do is to go to one of the Wings Video Mail booths to make your recording and press send! Imagine the delight for those at home when you pop up onto their screen to tell them how much you love them!
And for those who you might want to stay in touch with but not send messages of love to (!), you can tell all the rubbish jokes you like, so long as it is within the 60-second period!
There are eight booths across Afghanistan – just head to your WelcomE telephone booths and follow the signs for Wings Video Mail.
The RAF Association also runs Storybook Wings. This wonderful service allows you to read a story to your children at bedtime, even when you are away. If you are deployed or work away from your family, you can record a bedtime story using one of our specialist recorders.
Your recording is then edited, and a soundtrack and special effects added to really bring it to life. We then send the story directly
“Thank you for the two storybooks we received. Xavier and Max love to hear their Dad reading The Gruffalo and Guess How Much I Love You!”
“We’ve just received the CDs that you sent to us – they’re great. The girls love them! Thank you very much.”
to your children, making it a truly special present for them from you.
We have extended this project so now you can record a story for any period that you are away from your home unit, not just when you are on an overseas deployment.
Here are just a few of the comments we have received lately from families after the children have listened to their CD:
“Arran is delighted, he just wants to listen to it all the time now. The look on his face was priceless to hear his daddy telling him a story!”
At the moment, we have a fabulous team of volunteer editors who give up their time to support the service. Their job is to listen to the recording, take out any background noise and then add in the soundtracks and special effects. Is this something you feel you might be able to help with? You don’t need any previous experience or training – the editing software is a free download and it takes you through the training process. All you need is a computer and you can get started on the training straight away!
If you have a few hours to spare to help us get more stories out to children who are missing their mum or dad, please get in contact or if you would like to find out more talk to Lisa Thipthorp who is the Storybook Wings Manager on or email:
storybookwings@rafa.org.uk If you would like to record a story, please contact your HIVE in the first instance.
For more information about both initiatives, or any other work the RAF Association does, please visit
www.rafa.org.uk
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Envoy Winter 2013
49
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