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NFF News

 

Calling young people aged 11-18 with a parent in the Armed Forces

 

A study is being carried out at the University of Southampton to investigate how adolescents from Armed Forces families cope with stressful life events (both normal adolescent stressful events and events specific to Forces life). The results of this study could be used to provide recommendations for how best to support young people from Forces families during difficult times. We are particularly interested in encouraging effective practice in the use of Service Pupil Premium in schools, and there is currently a lack of evidence about what interventions are effective for young people and teenagers.

 

This online study is open to participants aged 11-18 who have a parent in the UK Armed Forces. Consent is needed from both the participants and their parent/guardian, which is given online. Participants are asked to complete some demographic questions and 3 questionnaires: one on stressful life experiences; one on resilience; and one on coping styles. The whole thing will take around 1 hour to complete. Participants will receive a £5 Amazon voucher to thank them for taking part in the study.

 

We would very much appreciate your support with this work, as without evidence it is very hard to encourage change. Thank you so much for sharing and participating!

 

Posted on: 28th February, 2019
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Relationships, Relationship Support, Useful Links

The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC) and Relate have launched a free relationship counselling portal for Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel and their partners.

 

The RNRMC Building Stronger Families portal is a self-directed online learning programme supporting naval couple and family relationships.

 

This project is a joint venture between the RNRMC, the National Charity of the Royal Navy, and the UK’s leading relationships charity, Relate, and builds on the successful relationship and family counselling introduced in 2016.

 

Both serving and former RN and RM personnel and their partners can sign up to the service for free, where they will then have access to seven different modules.

 

The courses are intended to support RNRM relationships with topics ranging from Military Life, Sexual Communication and Intimacy, to Family Life and Parenting.

 

The Building Stronger Families portal can be accessed here. For more information please visit here.

 

Posted on: 12th February, 2019
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NFF News, Deployment and Separation, RN/RM Announcements, Research

Pioneering research into the effects of ‘weekending’ – non-operational separations – on Naval Service families has been unveiled by the Naval Families Federation at Admiralty House in London.

 

At a gathering of influential military and civilian supporters of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, drawn from the Services, charities and industry, NFF Chief Executive Anna Wright said the new research indicated that the effects of weekending on spouses and children matched those of longer deployments, affecting relationships, spousal employment and general wellbeing.

 

With the Naval Service keen to recruit and retain the best talent to its ranks, this research will improve understanding of the families’ perceptions of the challenges and opportunities they face, which can affect serving personnel, particularly as their place of work is often far from the family home.

 

Anna said that “of the three Services, the Naval Service has the most separation in terms of military deployments. That is an issue in its own right.

 

“What is less well-known is that, of the three Services, the Naval Service also has the most non-operational separation.”

 

Drawing on their own family experiences, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones both acknowledged the importance of families in the operational effectiveness of the Naval Service, and the challenges caused by such separations.

 

Mr Williamson noted that ‘family’ is an important concept in the Service, and thanked the NFF for undertaking the project.

 

He also told the audience, representing Naval Service families and their support network, that “we always recognise that you being stronger, our Armed Forces are stronger.”

 

Speaking of the research, Admiral Jones said: “Many aspects of Service life, including time spent away from home as a result of working for the Royal Navy, are not easily compatible with family life and I am acutely aware that we ask a lot of our people and their families too.

 

“We are constantly looking to improve the wellbeing of our Naval Service families and there is much work in progress with Royal Navy Royal Marine Welfare, NFF and the Service charities.

 

“However, we can only change things for the better if we have a clear understanding of what really matters to all who serve and the families upon whose unswerving support we all rely.

 

“So I really welcome this report by the NFF which provides really valuable insights on which we can act, and in so doing ensure that life in the Naval Service is as good as it can be for our people and their families.”

Speaker behind a lectern.
Speaker behind a lectern.

The third guest speaker was NFF Homeport magazine columnist, blogger and Naval wife ‘Olive Oyl’, who gave her own take on separation from husband ‘Popeye’ in a sparkling speech that prompted laughter and knowing looks from many in the audience.

 

Summing up the findings, Anna said the challenges faced by families included difficulties in balancing careers with childcare while the partner is away, the placing of more responsibility on older children and a feeling of being under pressure to cram weekends with ‘quality time’ as a family.

 

Many spouses, said Anna, spoke of the sense of ‘just coping’ with the additional responsibilities, resulting in stress, anxiety and tiredness – though she reminded those gathered that Naval families are a resilient group, and there was no question of whingeing.

 

“So there we have it – we have an in-tray to tackle,” she concluded.

 

“The NFF are up for it, and we hope that you are too – our ‘just-coping’ families deserve no less.”

 

The findings of the research – commissioned by the NFF and carried out by the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR), funded by Greenwich Hospital – will be used by the MOD, senior military personnel and military charities to help improve support for Naval Service families.

 

Read the executive summary here. The full report can be downloaded here.

 

One immediate result of the project is the production by the NFF of a resource for parents and carers.

 

Titled ‘A Guide for Parents and Adults Supporting Children and Young People’, the publication – described by Anna as ‘light-hearted and empowering’ – was created by Bridget Nicholson of the NFF to offer strategies and encouragement for families affected by all forms of separation and those who support them; one finding of the research was that there is a general lack of appreciation that shorter separations still have a significant impact, and the booklet is in part designed to help address that.

 

The publication is available in hard-copy format from the NFF, or can be downloaded here. *Regrettably, we are only able to send hard copies to our beneficiaries due to resource constraints.*

Gallery
Crowd talking.
Speaker behind a lectern.
The Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Alexander Williamson and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones addressing guests at the Naval Families Federation.
Crowd talking.
Team photo.
Crowd talking.

Images UK MOD Crown Copyright 2019

Posted on: 7th February, 2019
Updated on: 21st June, 2019
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Relationships, NFF News, Deployment and Separation, Parenting, Relationship Support

Being a parent and raising children is exciting and rewarding, but it can be tough at times for any family. The amount, patterns and types of parental absence faced by Royal Navy and Royal Marines families present additional challenges that are not routinely experienced by most civilian families.

 

In response to feedback from families, the Naval Families Federation has produced a new resource about the experience of parental absence. The purpose of the resource is to draw together some useful information about parental absence and separation, and provide some strategies to help families thrive. If you are a parent, it may also be helpful to give a copy to your child’s school, or to other people in your network, to help them to understand your circumstances.

 

You can download a free copy here. Alternatively, Royal Navy and Royal Marines families, and those supporting them, please email us at contactus@nff.org.uk to request a hard copy. Regrettably, we are only able to send hard copies to our beneficiaries due to resource constraints.

 

Posted on: 6th February, 2019
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NFF News, RN/RM Announcements

 

The Secretary of State for Defence has asked Andrew Selous MP to produce an independent report to Government to see what more support can be offered to Service families.

 

The report will analyse the different experiences of Service family members, focussing on:

  • Spouses and civil partners
  • Long term partners
  • Children and dependents

 

The report team would like to hear from serving personnel and their families and from those who have recently left the armed services, as well as from providers of services to Armed Forces families in the statutory, voluntary and charity sectors.

 

The report team would like to receive evidence in respect of the following areas, but would also welcome evidence in any other areas of concern:

  1. Accommodation and home ownership
  2. Deployment lengths and frequencies
  3. Children’s education
  4. Health services
  5. Employment of non-serving members of the Armed Forces community
  6. Pressures on service couple and family relationships
  7. Transition to civilian life for the whole family
  8. Numbers of house moves

 

The report team is keen to hear what is working well in addition to what needs to be improved.

 

Submissions/comments should be sent to andrew.selous.mp@parliament.uk by the 15th of March. ‘Independent Report on Service Families’ should be included in the Subject line of the email.

 

The review will seek the first-hand experiences of military families. All families and their data will remain anonymous and no-one will be personally identified in any report. The review team will not retain any data after the report has been published. All discussions will be completely confidential and the information received will never be shared with anyone else.

 

** Edit: The consultation period has ended on 15th March. **

 

We were delighted to host Andrew Selous MP and Prof Jan Walker, lead of his research team, at our offices in HMS Excellent on 4th April 2019. We were joined by over a dozen of serving personnel and Service spouses/partners. Read the news story here.

 

If you have missed the opportunity to submit evidence, please do contact us, as we would like to hear from you. The NFF exists to give all serving Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel and their families the opportunity to have their views heard by those in positions of power, and we can challenge policy on your behalf.

 

 

Posted on: 4th February, 2019
Updated on: 5th April, 2019
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Announcements, NFF News, Mental Health

In December 2017, the Department of Health and the Department for Education released a Green Paper to consult on mental health provision for children and young people. It set out 3 key proposals for schools and the NHS to improve services.

 

The NFF released a formal response, following the publication of this Green paper. Our response highlighted the impacts of Naval Service have on children and young people’s mental wellbeing, and called for action in the Government’s future plans. To read a short summary of the Government’s proposals and our response, please click here.

 

Implementation

The consultation period lasted for 13 weeks from December 2017 to March 2018, and has received over 2,700 responses. The Government’s response to the consultation was published in late July 2018. The implementation began in early 2019 – 25 trailblazer areas across England to provide expert mental health support to almost half a million children and young people every year. 59 new Mental Health Support Teams are now undergoing training at seven universities nationwide, with plans to be operational by December 2019.

 

Each designated team will support up to 8,000 children and they are responsible for a cluster of around 20 schools and colleges each, to build on support already in place from different sectors (e.g. school counsellors, nurses). The teams are designated to help with treating mild and moderate mental health issues in school; a link to specialist NHS services will also be provided to those with more severe needs, to access the right support. Funding from the Department for Education is also in place to train senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, to work closely with the NHS teams.

 

The Current Trailblazer Areas

North

  • Doncaster CCG & Rotherham CCG
  • Liverpool CCG
  • Newcastle Gateshead CCG
  • Northumberland CCG
  • North Kirklees CCG & Greater Huddersfield CCG
  • South Tyneside CCG
  • Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership

 

Midlands & East

  • Herts Valley CCG & East and North Herts CCG
  • North Staffordshire CCG
  • Rushcliffe CCG and Nottingham North and East CCG
  • South Warwickshire CCG
  • Stoke on Trent CCG

 

South East

  • Buckinghamshire CCG
  • Berkshire West CCG
  • North Kent CCG grouping: Swale and Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCGs
  • Oxfordshire CCG

 

South West

  • Gloucestershire CCG
  • Swindon CCG

 

London

  • Bromley CCG
  • Camden CCG
  • Haringey CCG
  • Hounslow CCG
  • South West London HCP: Wandsworth and Sutton and Merton CCGs
  • Tower Hamlets CCG
  • West London CCG

 

 

Further Expansion

The trailblazer sites are made up of the NHS and key local stakeholders, including schools and colleges, local authorities and third sector organisations and will be rolled out to between one-fifth and one quarter of the country by 2023/24. Plans for further expansion of this service has also been set out in the NHS Long-Term Plan.

 

The NFF welcomes the introduction of the new services. Please do contact us if you would like to share your comments.

 

Posted on: 5th February, 2018
Last Updated on: 25th January, 2019
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Accommodation, NFF News

** Update: This survey is now closed. Please see the results here. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the survey.**

 

The Ministry of Defence is in the process of reviewing the provision of military housing from initial application through to the complaints process, including the future repair and maintenance contract, currently held by Amey. Please complete (and share) this Housing Survey to allow the NFF to use your views and feedback to influence the outcome of decisions made.

 

Naval Families Federation CEO Anna Wright said:

“Royal Navy and Royal Marines families provided evidence in relation to the Carillion Amey Service Family Accommodation (SFA) maintenance contract, which the Naval Families Federation presented to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee in 2016.  Members of the Committee recognised the importance of feedback from Armed Forces families. Please take up this invitation to have your voice heard on this important subject.”

 

This survey will run until midnight 30th November 2018 and takes 10-15 minutes to complete.

 

Please note this survey is for the new SFA maintenance contract and is not part of the Future Accommodation Model (FAM) project. Information on FAM can be found here.

 

Posted on: 7th November, 2018
Updated on: 17th January, 2019
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Wellbeing, NFF News

The Annington Challenge, run in conjunction with The Outward Bound Trust, gives young people from military families the chance to tackle their very own outward bound adventure and is now open to applications for Summer 2019.

 

Challengers will camp out for two nights or more in some of the most beautiful and breath-taking parts of the UK and get the chance to tackle anything from abseiling, canoeing and gorge-walking to sailing, kayaking and climbing. They tackle these activities in small groups and are helped, instructed and inspired by one of the Outward Bound’s highly qualified and hugely motivating instructors.

 

The Annington Challenge, like all of the Outward Bound courses, aims to change how young people think and feel about themselves and their lives, by building their personal, social and emotional skills and giving them the ability to thrive at school, in further education, employment and in life. Participants learn a deep appreciation of the balance between risk, reward and responsibility and leave with transferrable, essential life skills.

 

Read more about the Annington Challenge here (Homeport Winter ’18 pages 54-55).

 

For 2019, 65 young people aged between 11-19 will be chosen for a place on the Annington Challenge. Their dedicated instructor will play a huge role throughout this; coaching and sharing their skills, knowledge and expertise so that participants leave equipped to stand out from the crowd and realise their ambitions and achieve their life goals.

 

The Annington Challenge is open to all children of Service families, regardless of background. Applications will need the support of their school or college and if chosen, Challengers must be prepared to write a short report on their Annington Challenge. If you are interested in enrolling your young person in this programme, please apply through this link.

 

Posted on: 9th January 2018
Updated on: 15th January, 2019
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Accommodation, NFF News, Civilian Housing

The government has opened a consultation process on improving access to social housing for members of the Armed Forces community.

 

The result of discussions between the MOD’s Armed Force Covenant team, officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and other interested parties, the consultation outlines proposals for new statutory guidance for local authorities to help members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families, to gain access to social housing.

 

It is aimed primarily at local authorities, as well as members of the Armed Forces and Veterans and their respective spouses and partners, although other social housing providers and voluntary and community organisations representing tenants and members of the Armed Forces are also expected to have an interest.

 

Among the proposals are that newly-issued guidance would:

  • Bring together, update, and build on the existing statutory allocations guidance in relation to members of the Armed Forces issued in 2012 and 2013.
  • Make clear that local authorities are expected to disapply any local connection requirements from divorced or separated spouses or civil partners of Service personnel who are required to move out of accommodation provided by the MOD.
  • Set out how local authorities can ensure that members of the Armed Forces and Veterans suffering from mental ill health are given appropriate priority for social housing.
  • Set out how local authorities can identify applications from members of the Armed Forces and Veterans to ensure that they are considered appropriately.

 

These proposals relate to England only.

 

The consultation document can be found here, while responses can be supplied through this survey

or by emailing AllocationGuidance@communities.gov.uk

 

The consultation runs until March 8, and the views of individuals as well as groups are welcomed.

 

The Armed Force Covenant, created by the Armed Forces Act 2011, is a promise from the nation to those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, and those who have served in the past, and their families.

 

It states that they should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services, and recognises that special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have the given most such as the injured and bereaved.

 

Posted on: 10th January, 2019
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NFF News

We wish you a very Happy Christmas from all of us here at the Naval Families Federation. Please note that our offices will be closed from Friday 20st December 2019 to Thursday 2nd January 2020. Should you require urgent assistance over this period, you can find emergency contact details here:

 

Combat Stress Mental Health Helpline

If you’re currently serving in the UK Armed Forces, you can call Combat Stress’ 24-hour mental health helpline. A team of specially-trained professionals are available day and night to provide free confidential advice and support. The helpline is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Their contact details are as follows:

The Royal British Legion

The Royal British Legion supports serving members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families. They will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Their Contact Centre helpline will be available to call for the rest of the period:

  • 0808 802 8080 from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week (calls are free from UK landlines and main mobile networks) for all enquiries.
  • From overseas: +44 (0)20 3376 8080 (full rate)
The Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC)

If circumstances should arise, whilst your relative is deployed overseas that make it necessary for you to apply for his or her return home on compassionate grounds, such as a death in the family or a serious illness, you should contact JCCC at +44 (0)14 5251 9951. This number is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days per week throughout the Christmas period.

Royal Vavy Royal Marines Welfare (RNRMW)

If you have a concern or issue over the Christmas period that needs some support, especially if your Serving person is away from home please call RNRMW. Please click here to see their opening hours and emergency contact details for the Christmas period.

The Samaritans

The Samaritans are available 24 hours a day all year around.

Please call:

  • UK – 116 123
  • Welsh Language Line – 0808 164 0123 (Not 24-Hour, please see link above)
  • Republic of Ireland – 116 123
Posted on: 10th December, 2018
Updated on: 20th December, 2018
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