FEATURES
televisions etc. Due to the fact that we don’t have aWelfare Team some of the wives have got together and recently over school holidays they and their children have painted the rooms, the Commandant’s wife was busy sorting out the sheds and gardens and then RAF personnel completed the jobs in the evenings after the instructional day had finished. Afine example of the team spirit here at Manston...
As Warrant Officer here, Ihead up the administration side of the Unit which on most other units would be an OC
BSW.Responsibilities include Welfare Officer,Security Officer,OIC SFAS,Housing, Community Support, Media and Comms Officer,soamyriad of responsibilities with asmall team of two other Personnel Support staff.Often families arriving have real challenges getting children into
schooling where the Kent Grammar School system is still in place and all local junior schools are full. Many of the partners are isolated and with no pavements or public transport, strong relationships within the small Service Families Accommodation (SFA) patch are critical.
Calling on the Families Federation As with most units, schooling, dental and medical are the main issues. Families have also recently had to fly back from Cyprus and Italy to attend appeals at their own cost to get children into schools.
Manston has called on the services of the Families Federation on many occasions trying to get schooling sorted, working with the Covenant lead from within the RAF
FF.The Federation has supported the Unit also in securing upgrades of the remaining storage heating in some
SFAs to gas central heating; agreat relief for the occupants.
During arecent visit by the Federation to brief the Phase 2recruits on how it supports single personnel starting out on their careers, it was commented on how high morale is at this small Unit in Thanet. It is afantastic place to work and offers the permanent staff of all ranks the opportunity to better themselves, which they might not get at other larger units, because they have to be diverse. An example is the SAC Pers Spt who, after only 18 months in the RAF has already attended Diversity &Inclusion, STANEVAL, Service Funds and P1 courses.
So, Manston is definitely open for business.
More information on DFTDC Manston can be found on
GOV.UK and is also on Twitter @dftdc1
raf-ff.org.uk
Autumn 2016
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