EDITOR/DIRECTOR
EDITOR’S words T
his edition seems like it has come round in no time at all. We’ve had so many of you approach us with article ideas; please do keep them coming! I’ve loved hearing from
you and even if we can’t include in Envoy itself, we have other routes to make use of so don’t hold back.
We have a real mix of things to share. 2015 is the year of the 75th Battle of Britain Anniversary and with less of ‘The Few’ still with us it’s a very appropriate time to be grateful for what they did for our country.
2015 is also the year of Cyber Safety and having recently been on a course, run by the author of our article on pages 42-43, it really
I
began my last piece for ‘Envoy’ with some words about the world’s weather. I don’t propose to repeat myself and provide another
made me think about what’s visible behind the scenes from my iPhone, iPad or laptop. Very definitely worth a read for Service personnel and families!
Another exciting thing is the prize we offer you, courtesy of Champneys Health Spa. Plenty of couples go nowadays so men, don’t be shy… make sure you enter too!
Caroline Woodward From the Director
forecast for this issue of ‘Envoy’, partly because it’s too depressing right now but principally because the unavoidable time lag between writing this and it appearing in your letterbox/ mailbox makes it difficult sometimes to write anything relevant (let alone even vaguely entertaining). Suffice to say that, as I write, it’s not snowing in New York anymore…
To give me a chance (at being relevant) our Editor Caroline has very kindly extended my deadline until after the General Election but, although we now know who won, the result probably raises as many questions about the future as it answers: The next Defence Review has already been announced and we must now wait to see what that brings, and there remains great uncertainty in the world as a whole. Who knows what our serving personnel will be doing, where and to whom in even just a few months’ time? Frankly, it’s easier to look back not forwards and that magazine deadline is looming… So, what have we been doing and hearing about since the last edition of ‘Envoy’?
Well, at a time of so much uncertainty there is still one absolute certainty that I can fall back on: Over 50% of you contacting us will be concerned about Service accommodation in some shape or form. We have been working hard on your behalf to highlight
4 Envoy Summer 2015
the issues and concerns that this often emotive topic raises and each month we are handing over our evidence (actually your evidence but anonymised) to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and CarrillionAmey to demonstrate to them where things are still not right. To be fair, there are signs of improvement but there’s still much to do before the contractor can meet the levels of customer service that they want to achieve and you deserve. So, please keep your evidence coming – it is being put to good use and it is having an effect. There are things that you can do to help as well: If you don’t think that the service is what you should reasonably expect, use the formal complaints process to register your dissatisfaction and make sure that you are given a complaint number to quote; without that number your ‘complaint’ will not be recorded by the contractor and no one can then follow it up. Equally, if something goes really well and is worthy of praise, let the company know that too.
Beyond accommodation, we are receiving a variety of enquiries and issues from personnel and families serving overseas. We know that some of you did not receive your election ballot papers in time to make a postal vote and we are working with others to see how that can be resolved. With the changes in the allowances packages and with the much reduced levels of local support now available to our people overseas, especially in the smaller locations, it has never been more important to think carefully about and understand all the implications of an overseas assignment before you
volunteer – and the same still applies if you are “voluntold” as well. One positive note is that it has now been recognised that the AF Covenant and the principles enshrined in it should apply to those overseas as well as in the UK. So, if you are having problems – and these can range from the costs of cancelling mobile phone contracts to access to medical services – check out the AF Covenant and the Corporate Covenant to see if they can help. Get in touch with us as well so that we can record your experiences and help if we can.
We now have a new Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, Mark Lancaster MP, and I’m looking forward to talking with him about the many the issues you are bringing to us.
Finally, one of our AF Covenant staff, Nat Haynes, has left us for pastures new. Nat has been brilliant and has worked incredibly hard over the last two years to promote the Covenant with local authorities and organisations like NHS England. She has made a genuine difference to your lives, mainly without you realising it, and we wish her well in her new appointment.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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