SSAFA’s new brand puts family first

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 10^th April 2013, military charity SSAFA Forces Help shortened its name to SSAFA as part of a re-brand aimed at improving awareness of the charity amongst members of the Forces community.

SSAFA’s long history of supporting the Forces and their families has made it Britain’s most trusted charity, but research found that many people thought that the charity needed to modernise its identity to better reach its key audiences. 

 

In addition to current members of the Forces, the charity is increasingly helping younger veterans, many of whom are in their 20s and 30s. 

 

Families have always been at the heart of what SSAFA does and they have been put at the centre of the new brand. 

A new descriptive strapline reiterates the charity’s commitment to families as well as those who serve.  The change of name is supported by a modern new logo with a three colour underline to represent the charity’s lifelong support to the Navy, Army and RAF.  

 

Updating the charity’s image follows a long period of consultation with volunteers and staff as well as members of the military community.

 

SSAFA’s Director of Communications and Marketing, Athol Hendry, said:

 

“This work has been driven by the need to make sure that members of our Forces, past and present, know that SSAFA is here for them and their families, for life.  Our new brand doesn’t change the great work that SSAFA does, but I hope it will help us to tell our story more clearly than before.” 

 

Chief Executive, Air Vice-Marshal David Murray CVO, OBE said:

 

“SSAFA has provided more than 125 years of continued support to our Forces and their families.  But the work we do now is more important than it ever has been.  It’s really important that members of our Forces and their families know that SSAFA is here for them for life.”

 

Please help spread the word about SSAFA so that more people know who to turn to when they need help.  To find out how they help, click on the logo below.

The Art of Indulging

Many of us know what we’re signing up for when we begin a relationship with a member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, we know that HM comes first most of the time, we know that there are likely to be long periods apart but we also know that there are good points about this tripartite agreement, parties at the mess, Armed Forces discounts, the annual spanking that is Army v Navy to name a few. But there still seem to be a few secrets; one of which I unearthed this week – The Indulgence Flight.

I’ve been married 6 months now and husband has been away for 4 of them so when he said he’d booked me on an ‘indulgence flight’ I was beyond excited, it sounded too good to be true, a flight to the Falkland Islands for far less than the cost of a week in the Costa del Sol. Nobody mentioned that this process is actually an exercise in emotional strength and detective research.

Many years ago I studied Communication Studies and Sociology at university and if I’m being honest, neither are that hard and yet the team behind the indulgence flight process seem to have missed out on any such skills, how to share information or to understand people. The whole experience left me with a little voice in my head saying ‘if only someone had told me this beforehand.’ So once returned I decided to right this wrong (or write this wrong) and with a little help from Charlie I’m hoping to help a few others.

So, herewith, my list of things to know when attempting to Indulge:

The booking process for your other half will not be easy, they will have to seek out the right people and meet all requests promptly and comprehensively. It doesn’t matter if he is on a ship thousands of miles away from the booking office, they still want the document signed and hand delivered.

You may or may not receive confirmation of your request. Departure -2 days and I still hadn’t heard anything. I called Brize Norton who firstly told me I had no booking and then found me hiding on a waiting list. Other passengers had wrong names or contact details.

Booking can be confirmed by some unidentified Corporal via a crackly voicemail with no return phone number.

You are not definitely booked on the flight until all military personnel have checked in on along with their luggage.

Don’t try asking about how many spaces on the flight, its done on weight. (one passenger I spoke to was allowed 60kgs of luggage so I suggest you don’t even try and estimate this either)

There is limited car parking at Brize Norton, this must be booked well in advance and to do that you need you reference number. The one you probably won’t get until a day or so before.
If you ask the right person at Brize Norton they can recommend a taxi firm that does off site parking. I’m going to throw caution to the wind and tell you now. Its called Charlie’s Taxis in Carterton, it’s a little basic but it does the job.

The price of the flight varies on location and can be significantly different outbound and inbound. The first I was told of the price was as I handed over my passport.

Your boarding pass will only be given to you once all military personnel are through to the departure gate. Then its all systems go!

The flight may be run by an independent company, old basic planes but no worse than any budget airline.

The inflight entertainment is administered by issuing you with an ipad which was a pleasant surprise.

The food on board is pretty bad, I suggest taking a few extra supplies. To give an example, I was half way through a beige warm mushy roll before I realised that it was a breakfast burrito and that I was just at the hash brown end.

There is no alcohol allowed on the flight.

The usual rules for travelling with liquids don’t apply.

My flight wasn’t full, its always worth having a look at the back of the plane to see if there’s more space back there rather than being cramped into a block of 4.

The following only applies to Brize Norton to Falkland Islands via Ascension but I’m on a roll now so why stop.

You will have a stop off of about 90 minutes at the Ascension Islands. This isn’t so much a transit lounge as more of a cage or pen, but it’s a warm island and they serve ice-cream so there are worse cages to hang out in.

You will need the address of where you’re staying whilst visiting FI. ‘with my husband’ or ‘at Mount Pleasant’ doesn’t really cut the mustard.

On departure there is apparently a £22 tax, not that anyone asked me for it.

This is probably the most important one… to pay for the return fare the office will only take cash or cheque, no such mod cons as debit cards here. No, there’s no ATM in the airport, the nearest is the post office on base or the NAAFI 5 minutes drive away might be able to do a small amount of cash back.

So there you have it fellow MOD dependents, as you can probably tell I was somewhat traumatised by the process, and yes, I admit that’s probably because I usually like to be fully in control of a situation and on this occasion I didn’t stand a chance. But make the most of the offer of indulgence, I hear Cyprus is great but very popular. And if I can ask one more thing of you it will be to share these nuggets of information with anyone you know who is going to take on the challenge.

No One Alone

Do you know someone who is blind?

Have they done military service?

It does not matter how long ago that service was, or how short it was.  The cause of their blindness does not matter.  The fact that they once served means they are now eligible for help from Blind Veterans UK.

Blind Veterans UK is the new name for the charity formerly known as St Dunstans and they have recently launched the ‘No One Alone’ campaign which aims to spread the message that the charity has now widened it’s criteria for those who can seek help and assistance to anyone who has served and has since become blind.

It’s a simple message, but it can’t reach the people who need to hear it unless we all do our bit to spread the word.

Blind Veterans UK offer practical help, giving each blind veteran the skills and confidence to pick up their life and become independent again. They are there when families can’t cope and they stay with them when times are good. Blind Veterans UK is a community for life.

If you know or care for someone who served their country and has lost their sight, please get in touch with the charity.

You might not know that a blind person has served their country. There are many older people who have done National Service but who do not talk about it regularly.  Why not ask them and find out?

Are you a health professional?  Please visit this link to read how you too can help.

Thank you

Freephone 0800 389 7979

http://www.noonealone.org.uk/

http://www.blindveterans.org.uk/

Blind Veterans UK

12-14 Harcourt Street

London

W1H 4HD

Deployment Toolkit – for those left behind

The most important frame of mind to force yourself into when coping with your partner’s deployment is this:

You have to get yourself through this on your own.  

He is not your crutch, you cannot rely on him, you cannot vent to him.  If you rely on contact with him to keep you emotionally stable at some point the sudden lack of it will knock you sideways and leave you falling with no safety net.  Of course when I say ‘alone’ no woman is an island, and there will be contact at times.   The person who fixes you when you need fixing will be you and the things you put in place for yourself.

Now that you are in the right frame of mind, what ammo do you need in your deployment arsenal to make sure you are prepared for every eventuality?

 

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MILITARY PARTNER DEPLOYMENT TOOLKIT

Some of these will apply to parents, siblings and children too

Pre-deployment Plans

A General Power of Attorney will help you deal with any finances or assets that he needs you to in his absence.  I provide a free (yes absolutely free!) Power of Attorney here.  It was written by a solicitor and needs both of your signatures witnessed.  Should you require a more complicated POA with restrictive clauses, ring a solicitor.  If you do not have a Power of Attorney, practice crying on the phone to companies and playing the Afghan card – however this is no good if you need to act in his larger scale interests.

Take lots of photos and make lots of videos.  This is generally accepted to be normal behaviour although on a personal level I must admit I never look at any of them when mine is away as they reduce me to a sobbing mess.

A Lasting Power of Attorney – this is a more complicated legal document than the general one so should be sought from a solicitor.  It will mean you can handle your partner/sibling/child/parent’s interests should they lose mental capacity.  It is a safety net should not the worst, but the next worst possible thing happen.

Wills.  Without wishing to bring too much doom and gloom, it is not just your serving family member who can die, you can too.  Why not go and get joint Wills together before they leave?  You can sort out their lasting POA then too.

Now they have gone

A little sulk is always on the cards once you have been ‘deserted’.  Most people I know have an ice cream evening, watch a few DVDs and do not have any friends or family around for a couple of days.  Then it is time to stop moping and crack on, much as you would like to go to sleep and not wake up until they come home!

That person you can collapse in front of, crying on the floor.  You may not need to do this for the entire six or seven months, but it is important you know who that person is, and that they know you might need them.  It will probably happen on a birthday or Christmas, when you are supposed to be happy but you just don’t feel like it.  If ‘that person’ is there and you can go into a quiet room and cry on them, all the better.  Some people break down on bizarre occasions – I burst into tears once when my boss asked after my other half.

A safe friend.  For the ladies, a ‘safe’ male friend is vital.  When I say safe, I mean rock solid safe.  There has to be absolutely NO chance this person can have or develop feelings for you.  You will be at your most vulnerable and needy at points over the next six months and you will need big man shaped arms around you.  There really is nothing better when you are low.  Even better to have a few different safe friends, but again selection is vital otherwise serious problems may develop.  (See later)

Your In Case of Emergency Person.  This is the person who knows exactly what to do should YOU be injured or worse.  They should be marked ICE in your phone.  They should know how to call your garrison/regiment switchboard, who to ask for, exactly what squadron/company your partner is in, his/her full name, rank and service number and all of your details.  This is to relay information about what has happened to you directly to the UWO (Unit Welfare Officer) so that your partner/family member can be informed immediately.

Event Planner.  Set dates to look forward to, meals with the girls, trips out with the children.  Count down to those milestones rather than the next time you will see your partner or family member again.  The big numbers are far too daunting and the smaller leaps will go much faster.

His Aftershave/Her Perfume and one of her jumpers.  A friend suggested vacuum bagging them to retain ‘their’ smell. Try it – it really works! Perfectly preserved for your sniffing pleasure.

Have the house as you like it.  No more compromising on style and layout of your living room, shove candles everywhere and have the whole room smelling of flowers if you wish.  It’s your six months to have everything exactly the way you like it, so make the most of it!

A Planned Holiday.  Book a girly holiday, or a trip with your uni friends.  Tell the regiment/commando/squadron where you are going and how long for, but don’t let him being away stop you going.  He should not be the only one getting a bit of sun.

Shoeboxes, Blueys and Customs Declaration Stickers.  Stock up on small boxes, supplies of blueys and a whole reel of customs declaration stickers.  You might need to sweet talk your post office lady!

Small scales.  You will need to weigh everything you send so if you have table top scales that can take up to around 3kg they will be perfect.  Remember, BFPO will not take anything over 2kg, and I have heard countless stories of family members leaving Post Offices in floods of tears because the person behind the counter wouldn’t accept a parcel weighing 2.1kg.  For care package contents ideas click here.

Your girly friends.  You need them more than ever, and civvy ones are just as important if not more so than your military-partner friends.  Hanging out solely with other separated wives will blur your perspective and keep you too wrapped up in your partner’s deployment.  Close civvy friends are key to helping you remember that you are a civilian yourself with a civilian life that existed before you met your partner.  For ‘your’ six months, you need to cope as if your other half does not exist.  This may sound cruel but it is a good way of putting a mental block on your emotional reliance of him and helps you to draw from your own strengths and ingenuity.  You must be positive about it – you CAN do it, and your girls can help you do it.

Somewhere to vent.  Twitter is amazing – set up an account and go nuts.  If you want to follow me I can give you a shout out to get you started

One for the girls;  adult toys.  I need say no more.

Home phone Bluetooth.  This is brilliant.  You can get phone systems that link with your mobile via Bluetooth so that no matter where you leave your phone at home (upstairs on charge for example) the house phone will ring when your mobile does, and you can talk to whoever is ringing on it.  It even tells you who is calling.

Car Bluetooth.  Same principle, and vital if they ring when you are driving.

Polaroid Camera. Just a bit of fun, you can get second hand ones for upwards of £30 online, but really any camera will do.  Why not take a picture a day or week and post them to him, or create an album of your tour diary photos for him to look at when he gets back.

What you DON’T need

The dangerous friend.  There will always be a predatory male who cosies up to you during your partner’s tour.  For some of you there will be more than one.  It is very easy to reply to texts when you are lonely and it is even easier to agree to go for daytime coffees and use this person to unload your problems onto.  USE YOUR SAFE FRIEND!  You may be in denial about your dangerous ‘friend’ but deep down you know you are treading a slippery path that could end your relationship.  You don’t want that, so go home, stare at pictures of your partner, then ring your safe friend (or a girly friend) and arrange to meet up with them instead.  You’ll thank me later, I promise.

Wife-and-girlfriend-mass hysteria.  This will happen every tour regardless, but for your sanity it is best to stay out of it.  Unless the person who has been killed is the husband of your best friend, don’t get involved with the frantic texting and gossipy phone calls.  It will only make you more worried about your other half or family member.  Easier said than done, I know.  Yours may not even have seen what happened, or been around at all.  They could be operating in completely different areas of Afghanistan from others in their regiment.

Panicking over missed calls.  They WILL ring back, you may just have to wait a few days.  It could even be in the next ten minutes.  If you do a job where you can’t have your mobile on you (or even on at all) this can be particularly distressing, especially if you come home late at night to two forlorn sounding voicemails.  Have a tactic for when this happens – write him a long email or ebluey telling him what you were up to that day.

Arguing with him.  Fighting down the telephone or via email over (relatively) petty things is bad for the pair of you.  If you feel like ranting, write the email and then save it into your drafts and delete later.

What you need the most though is positive mental attitude… you can do this.  You may have done it before, if you have, it won’t be the same but you will be better at coping this time.   If you haven’t, just remember that lots of others have and we are all still standing.  If we can, you can. Have a little faith in your own strength.  You never know, you may surprise yourself…..

Boys on Tour; What is your soldier REALLY getting up to?

You haven’t heard from your Soldier, Marine or Airman in a few days and are becoming worried.  Minimise has been on and off – you know, because casualties are being reported in the news.  Rationalising and constantly reminding yourself that Afghanistan is huge, that each company is doing something entirely different and that ‘yours’ is fine,  you worry a little bit, anyway.  No emails, no texts, no voicemails, nothing on Facebook.  What the hell are they up to?

When he cannot get to a phone, it does not mean that he is in danger… he could be

Robbing an empty water tank from the Americans, cutting it in half with a saw, filling it with water from a hose with Chinese Kev, leaving it out in the sun to warm up and taking it in turns to bomb into it from an upturned wooden park bench.  He could be having a BBQ with all his friends, using half of an oil drum with a rusty grill stuck over the top of it and cooking up some meat he swapped with the yanks for kit.  Steak’s up!  He might be playing soldiers yes, I know, but boys NEVER grow up – using those laser quest style vests and guns that deliver a small shock when the targets on the vests are hit.  He could even be playing chess for the thirtieth time (and losing) or learning card tricks from a book.  If he’s not playing games you can probably find him in the gym that he and his friends made from bits of wood, weights, rope, perhaps a picket in the ceiling as a pull up bar and a spare tyre.  Then again he could be watching Top Gun  for the twentieth time that tour as it’s the only DVD available.  You never know, he might even be writing you a bluey.

If he’s feeling cheeky he possibly just embarrassed a friend by putting a semi-naked picture of his fat wife one of the other boys found lying around on the ‘pig board’ for all to see, but he could just be going through the contents of a local parish welfare package which nearly always contain the same things: toothpaste, a toothbrush, Kleenex tissues and some soap.  If he’s living on the edge he might be found reading a two week old newspaper or kicking a rugby ball into the compound barbed wire by accident of course.  He may have just been on a stealth mission to steal paraffin from the POL (Petrol Oil and Lubricants) compound so that his heater can run all night in the freezing cold.  He’s hiding it in his tent walls and laughing when the other boys are cold all night and can’t figure out why his tent is nice and snug.  He may be befriending a mouse that keeps nibbling through his welfare packages, and keeping it as a pet in a makeshift cage.

Or he could be fixing something he just broke...

If he’s out on patrol and has not come back, he may not be in any danger at all.  He might simply have sunburn because he spent 13 hours sitting in a field in the blistering heat because one of the Corporals spotted some coloured plastic buried in a track.  12 hours later he is watching the EOD team from Bastion arrive in a chopper who simply walk over, wave a metal detector over the plastic, pick it up with their fingers and throw it away.  He never manages to get more than 500m away from camp on patrol that day.  For the rest of the evening he can be found taking the piss out of that Corporal.

So just remember. Communication may be down; silence may be starting to kill your morale…. But your soldier is likely to merely be doing one, more or all of the above!

Military Spouses Work

You own a company and you had some staff leave recently, so you advertise to fill a vacant position in your business.  Two applicants attend for interviews.  One is a woman in her thirties, another in her mid-twenties.  Both are strong candidates, but according to her CV the woman in her thirties has moved jobs every two years and one of her recent positions was not entirely relevant to the role she is applying for within your company.  When you ask her about this, she tells you that it is because she has had to move house every two years.  Her husband is in the military.  Alarm bells ring; does this mean that she will only be in your company for two years?  Is it worth investing time and money training her if she is likely to leave?  Will she definitely move again after two years? Suddenly her appropriateness for the role and depth of experience become irrelevant; she is now being assessed as a potential flight risk.

It is one of the remaining employment taboos.  Discrimination law prevents employers asking female interviewees if they are planning on having children and a man about his sexual orientation.  Why then are employers still flummoxed when it comes to military partners?

Three years ago Harriet Harman, the then Equalities Minister spoke to many military wives when she completed a UK-wide tour of service bases.  She reported that what military wives want has changed – that today’s military wives are modern women struggling to survive in the 21st Century and want the same training and employment opportunities as everyone else.  They felt excluded from progress enjoyed by civilian society and hindered by a lack of understanding on the part of employers.

Difficulties faced by military partners range from relocating back to the UK from places such as Cyprus and Germany to gaps in CVs due to living in areas where work was not available, or taking a break to bring up children, not to mention having to move frequently to weird and wonderful places.  They are hampered as more often than not they are the only childcare provider due to extensive periods of absence on the part of their spouse.

Since becoming an Army partner myself I have been impressed with the ambition and drive of the friends I have made.  One of my dearest friends not only holds down a high end business career and motherhood for a girl of primary school age whilst her husband is on a two year posting (away from her – she is living unaccompanied) but she has also started her own military childrens’ charity* at the same time.  Others are at university pursuing demanding careers in law and business, a fair section are in the military themselves and some are in medicine, photography and teaching.  What impresses me the most is how they manage it all in the face of constant upheaval and emotional turmoil of separation and the stresses this brings, not to mention effectively being a single parent.

I do not know why anyone would not want to employ a woman who can multitask so beautifully, who shows such strength of resolve and determination not to let circumstance restrain her goals.  It is a tough life being a military partner and it teaches you to draw on many qualities one previously would never imagine they possessed.  I often make use of my new found ability to patiently wait for hours on end at work (not as fun as it sounds at two in the morning, believe me.)

Work is important.  Work gives you a sense of self-worth and a social life outside of military life.  It broadens life experience, tests your talents and can be turned into a fabulous career that brings so much happiness.  Friendships are made, personal qualities developed and the wonderful part is that you get to bring some extra money home to your family.  Steadily building up a career through experience whilst married to the military means that if your partner has problems finding work when they leave you can take over the reins should you so desire.

So I was, without exaggerating at all, ecstatic to see the new initiative Recruit For Spouses, founded by Heledd Kendrick.  A recruitment website with a difference, Recruit for Spouses has already signed up the likes of British Telecom, Siemens and Golly Slater to its books, and has more than 400 military spouses signed up with skills in everything from accountancy to the law.  The venture charges employers a nominal fee with all profits going to service charities.  “Being a military spouse has its own unique challenges and when I first set out to create the company, my vision was to have a site that was helpful, interesting and would provide them with rewarding work,” said Heledd.

“Life is changing, and with Government cuts we are moving into a society where spouses want and need to work in gainful employment.  The site is not just for wives – we would love to hear from men who have a wife in the forces too,”

“We are also working with the Women’s section of the Royal British Legion who have helped get us this far and we are extremely grateful to them for their on-going support,” she said. “We are also honoured to have Lady O’Donoghue as our Patron. She’s been a military wife for 38 years and has moved more than 24 times.  She has offered some sage advice to our fledgling business.”

The website welcomes visitors, explains how the enterprise works, and adds: “Whether you’re looking for a job locally or you want to find work that is flexible or from home so that you can fit it around kids, exercises or those pesky dinner nights, we hope we can help. The companies who use us will not be disappointed as they are tapping into a global diverse workforce of skilled professionals who are resourceful and adaptable.”

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*Army Children’s Charity mentioned above – My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures 

Search Terms

I use this site to (repeatedly) state to my readers that they are not alone in their darkest moments, when the pressures of being in a relationship with something that for the most part appears to be an armed shadow or a voice on a telephone take their toll, and they feel like screaming or smashing something.  Here is some statistical proof for you.  You really are not alone – and what is really telling is that the members of the military are as concerned and stressed about their relationship situations as we are on the outside.

The following are recent search terms that people have typed into internet search engines that have resulted in hits on my page.  They are verbatim, unedited.  Some of them were typed in in excess of 40 times:

i hate being a military girlfriend

i can’t deal with my boyfriend being in the army

how do you cope with your partner being in afghan

how to not worry military girlfriend

second thought about waiting deployed boyfriend

1st time army girlfriend. what to expect.

army boyfriend didn’t come back to me after end of his tour

boyfriend in the falklands

why should you break up with boyfriend before going into military

how to deal with being an army girlfriend

leaving gf for army anything i can do for her?

how to cope with being an army girlfriend

does the military fly troops home for the death of a girlfriend or fiance’

how to deal with being a military girlfriend

did your girlfriend leave you while in army

is it easy to be in a relationship in the british army

if im in the army and my bf is in the navy can we date

how to have a relationship when your partner is in the army

support for afgan shoilders girlfriends

how the army affected my relationship with my boyfriend

being an army girlfriend

i am a widowed army wife

army girlfriend problems

how to tell wife i want to join forces

having a girl back home in the army

can’t handle being military girlfriend

how to cope with being a military girlfriend

army girlfriend stress

what to expect as an army girlfriend

i havent heard from my boyfriend in 3 weeks in afghanistan

being a soldier’s girlfriend

army girlfriends who have partners on tour

how long has it been since you heard from boyfriend in afghanistan?

is it easy to be in a relationship in the british army

crap a soldier’s girl takes

did your girlfriend leave you while in army

army ruined my relationship

my girlfriend can’t stand being away from me

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See what I mean?  That was just a small taster, too.  Now to cheer you up a bit more, here are some hilarious and quite frankly bizarre search terms that have caused hits on my blog.  They have brought me many laughs and sometimes caused me to question humanity itself….. Enjoy!

army slags

tidworth slags

sexual assault Catterick <—– there have probably been a lot of these, good luck with that search

squaddie slags

visiting slags <— like at a slag zoo?

armyslags.com <—- they have their own website now? Hopeful much

songs for army girlfriends <—- who would search for this?

the song for prisoners wives <— they want a song for chuffing everything

is bfpo faster than regular post <—- someone is in for a disappointment

i want to marry a cop <—– umm.. OK? Why type it into Google though

how to marry a cop <—— is this the same person? Keen

what a special forces soldier needs in a wife <—- given up on Police and decided to go for them instead?

married to policeman<—- Hurrah! looks like she was successful

being the girlfriend of an army <—- she must be very, very tired

shave bum fluff or let it grow <—– genuinely can’t believe some poor boy consulted the internet over this

a message to shout at girl who took my boyfriend <—– get over it. He’s not your boyfriend any more

my friend stole my boyfriend how to get back <—— same as above

british army shit <—— Oh, bless you.