Overseas assignments can be exciting opportunities for service personnel and their families, but they also come with lots of things to take into consideration when moving overseas: Can spouses and partners work? Can you take your pets? What childcare is available? Can you still get your prescriptions? What is everyday life really like there? It isn’t always easy to know where to find information to help you make the right choices for your family, that is where the Families Federations can help.
Valuing Forces Families Overseas is funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund, with the Naval, Army and RAF Families Federations working in partnership to deliver several projects. The aim of these projects is to ensure that families have access to the right information to help them have the best experience possible while overseas.
Last summer the Naval Families Federation kicked off the projects and launched the ‘Just One Thing’ campaign where families shared what advice or information they wish they had received before moving overseas. Much of the feedback shared focused on location specific advice, partner employment, childcare and education. The results of this helped inform the production of tri-service webinars and a series of animations to support families through all stages from considering an overseas assignment, on receipt of an assignment order, currently overseas to moving back to the UK.
The NFF worked with the animation production company Pushed Ltd to produce three animated videos to support families from all services, in the initial stages of researching overseas assignments. These short videos cover an overview of areas to think about when you start your research and information on preparing to move, prompts for thinking about what will go with you and what will stay behind, and what to think about around children, their education and childcare. The videos are now available on the Naval Families Federation YouTube channel.
NFF Overseas Project Lead Sian says: “We’re really excited to share these videos, it has been interesting working with Pushed on creating these dynamic scripts and animations to try to ensure they work for all services and all families. We hope these will give families a helpful place to start when thinking about an overseas assignment”.
The Valuing Forces Families Overseas project is scheduled to continue over three years, so watch this space as we continue to evaluate and develop these resources as other projects unfold.
Naval Families Federation CEO, Sarah Clewes added “We are pleased to share a new suite of videos produced to support families across all three services, designed to answer common questions, aid informed decision‑making, and highlight key considerations for every family member. Most importantly, it showcases the wide range of support available when preparing for an overseas assignment, settling into life in-country, and getting ready to return to the UK, or when moving to another overseas location.
As the Valuing Forces Families project develops, these videos will be reviewed and refreshed to ensure they remain relevant, current and relatable for all families”.