FOREWORD Foreword by LADY ELAINE HILLIER
Little did I think when I married my husband and became a Royal Air Force wife 32 years ago that one day he would be the Chief of the Air Staff, but here we are, 18 postings, 20 house moves and two children later! I feel so privileged to have been part of the Royal Air Force family for this long. It hasn’t all been plain sailing and we’ve had lots of missed family events because of detachments and deployments, but I feel that’s just part of the package – challenging at the time but the good has defi nitely outweighed the bad. My life now seems to consist of packing and unpacking bags to travel with Steve and always forgetting something – this is an area I need to improve on and I get the feeling I’m going to get plenty of practice!
As I write this we are fourteen weeks into the tour and already I’ve been out and about visiting units and stations. I feel it’s my way of supporting the RAF Family and giving something back for all the good things I’ve taken from the RAF. I’ve visited childcare centres, schools, community centres and messes, attended an Initial Offi cer Training (IOT) Graduation and the Air Cadet 75th Anniversary at RAF College Cranwell. I’ve even climbed to the top of a lighthouse and judged a sandcastle building competition for grown-ups! I really enjoy meeting RAF personnel and families on these visits and hearing fi rst-hand what they feel about Service life today and the good thing is, it’s still mostly positive. I know things are changing, such as more deployments and therefore time away from home, more families choosing to live their lives away from married patches, and many more people progressing their Service careers whilst
bringing up their children. For those who want it, there is still a fantastic support network available and the social side still seems to be pretty good too. Community is enormously
important to Service life and feeling a part of one has helped me through some of the more diffi cult moments of the last 32 years.
On these visits one of the main themes of my discussions with Community Support teams is always housing. I completely understand the frustrations and impact this can have on family life. I know from experience just how frustrating it can be to wait for tradesmen who don’t turn up and when they do, can’t complete the job. I would urge you to follow up on these issues by using the help of the Families Federation when you really need them, they are there for you and it’s really easy to get in touch. It’s more likely that things will get better if we all speak with one voice, so do go along and meet the Families Federation in person on their unit visits or at station families’ days. Although they are a small team they all have experience of Service life, be that as RAF personnel or as families, so they understand and know how to get the job done!
I just want to fi nish by wishing everyone a Happy Christmas, especially to those whose loved ones are serving away from home.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Winter 2016
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