24 | Federation
RAF Dispersed Families
project update by Tor Johnson, RAF FF Project Manager
In June 2017 we launched our Dispersed Families project, looking at the experiences of RAF families who live away from their parent unit. With the project now past its halfway point, Iwould like to share our progress so far.
In my role of Project Manager Ihave met with awide range of stakeholders from the RAF,MOD and military charities, and have collected views from dispersed families through various means. Iwould like to give our thanks to all those who Ihave met and who have participated –without you sharing your views and experiences we would be unable to make any meaningful recommendations for change. It has been really rewarding to meet so many of you all over the country,and interesting to discover that you are well and truly dispersed!
Connecting with YOU
One of the key elements of our project was to connect with dispersed families and to gather their viewpoints. We did this through interviews with 30 family members and our online surveys, which received 401 complete responses. We were delighted with the response and as far as we can tell this is the highest participation level for any UK study into military dispersed families. Participants included:
•Regulars and Reserves and their families; •Married couples and those in long term relationships;
•Home owners, renters, and families in dispersed SFA locations;
•Families with and without children; and •People of abroad range of ages and ranks.
In addition we also ran aCommunity Support Team survey, with teams from anumber of RAF stations providing their views. This survey aimed to identify existing good practice in supporting dispersed families, and any potential barriers that may currently exist in doing so.
ENVOY | Autumn 2018 |
raf-ff.org.uk What YOUtold us identified.
Why are families dispersed? The most common reasons given were:
Home ownership (70% of survey respondents were living in their own home)
Stability for the family in the current location Stability for children in education Spouse/partner’s employment or training Avoiding frequent house moves
Some common factors in the choice of location were: A known area - near to current or previous station Employment opportunities for spouse or partner
Commutable distance to several stations to provide future posting options
Proximity to family or friends for support
Our forever home -preparing for eventual transition from the RAF
Are there benefits to being dispersed?
The most common benefits discussed by participants were: •home ownership •family stability •stability of education •friendships for children
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