Author: NFF

Editor of Homeport

Mike has a family history of military service – his father was in the RAF before joining the police, and various uncles served in the Royal Navy, the RM Band Service, and the Army.

Mike’s career has been in journalism, starting with 11 years at The News in Portsmouth, where he worked as a reporter, sub-editor and as Production Editor before taking up a post in the MOD.

After almost a year as Second Sea Lord’s Deputy PRO, dealing with a range of HR issues, he moved across to Navy News, where he spent 22 years, the last eight as Editor. This involved covering all aspects of the Naval Service at home and overseas, at all levels from AB to Admiral, and also serving the wider Naval community, including Sea Cadets, families and veterans.

When the opportunity came to join the NFF in 2018 Mike moved across the Upper Lawn on Whale Island, from Navy Command HQ to Building 25, and has been Editor of Homeport ever since, also helping where required (from shifting boxes to checking grammar…)

Families Engagement Officer (Devolved Administrations)

Wendy joined the NFF in April 2019 as the Devolved Administrations Families Engagement Officer, tasked with leading a comprehensive understanding of need for Royal Navy and Royal Marine families across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and representing this to those in position of power across the devolved governments, local authorities, and Chain of Command.

Wendy’s previous work in the third sector and local authority lends itself well to engaging and influencing positive change for RNRM Families. The spouse of a veteran submariner, Wendy has an inherent understanding of the nature of service life.

Originally from Rutland, Wendy lives in Scotland along with her husband and four children.

Families Engagement Officer (Devolved Administrations)

Part of the Scottish Families Engagement Team and based in Helensburgh, Vicky is married to a serving submariner and mum of two very young children.  She worked in retail for many years and was previously an area trainer for RoC UK.  Most recently Vicky has managed a small children’s charity, Fun First, based in Helensburgh.  This is a charity that works with children and their families to provide free, fun sessions to aid children’s development from birth.  Throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns she worked closely with families offering support and helped to facilitate friendships and connections for families within the local community.  She has taken a keen interest in Makaton, through her work with Fun First and will have completed level 3 training by mid-September.  Vicky has also volunteered with the local SSAFA in service team for the past few years, working to help support local families.

Senior Family Advocate

Originally from East Yorkshire, Helen now lives in Hampshire with her serving RN husband.  She is a former Retail Manager and Local Authority Housing Benefits Officer, working alongside the Housing Options team.

Helen’s customer service skills are put to good use as she leads the NFF’s Families Advocacy Team as the senior families advocate.  Helen is tenacious in supporting individual families and, having ‘lived the life’ relishes being in their corner.  Helen is also the organisation’s policy lead for Accommodation and attends national meetings to inform service providers and the MOD about the housing maintenance and allocations issues affecting Royal Navy and Royal Marines’ families.

Helen joined the team three weeks before the first Covid lockdown and still managed to get to know everyone with her very popular weekly ‘Get to Know You’ questions.

Families Engagement Officer (Devolved Administrations)

Sheridan joined the team in August 2021 as the NFF aimed to grow its Scottish presence and became part of the Scottish Families Engagement Team. She covers the East coast of Scotland and Northern Ireland within her role.

Sheridan has been working within the charity sector since March 2019, her previous role at RMA – The Royal Marines Charity was as the Membership Co-ordinator. Her role there involved working closely and building relationships with veterans, serving Royal Marines and their families.

Originally from the Midlands, Sheridan has moved within Scotland and Plymouth with her serving Royal Marine husband and two sons.

Marketing and Communications Manager

Having joined the NFF in 2018 in a maternity cover role Cinmi was invited to remain on a permanent basis as the Marketing and Communications Manager.

Cinmi gained her BA degree in Communications and English Studies from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 and received her Master’s in Journalism, Media, and Culture from Cardiff University in 2016.  In her spare time, she is a content creator and blogs about beauty and lifestyle for fun. Her blog enables her to experiment and gain new skills, which she can utilise to help grow the NFF’s social presence.

Having been with her serving sailor since 2015, Cinmi has lived both the ‘weekending routine’ and the ‘married patch’ life.  She has great awareness of the challenges our RN/RM families are facing, and she is delighted to be in this role to support the community to which she belongs.

Health & Wellbeing and Covenant Policy Adviser

Jenny Ward has worked within the Armed Forces community for more than 30 years, having started as a Civil Servant in the Ministry of Defence. Since 2007 she has primarily worked in support of Armed Forces families, initially as the Evidence Manager for the RAF Families Federation and then as the Armed Forces Covenant lead and Regional Team Manager for the Naval Families Federation (NFF).

Jenny now represents the NFF within the policy areas of health and wellbeing and the Armed Forces Covenant. She is a member of the NHS England Armed Forces Public Patient Voice Advisory Group and the DHSC UK Health of our Service Families Working Group.  Jenny has a particular interest in improving mental health support services for Armed Forces families and is currently leading the Headspace App pilot project, which is being delivered by the NFF in partnership with the Royal Navy.

Education and Childcare Policy Adviser

Becky joined the team in June 2021 as the Education and Childcare Policy Adviser and is the Naval Families Federation’s subject lead in the areas of education, childcare, and parenting.

As a former teacher and school leader, Becky has extensive experience working in both secondary and junior schools. Her specialism was the teaching of English and the promotion of literacy – especially reading – across the curriculum. During this time, Becky also conducted research in education, focusing on teacher training. Currently, she is a school governor at her local primary school, with a particular interest in Early Years and mental health and wellbeing provision.

Rebecca is herself part of a naval family and lives with her serving spouse and two school aged children.

Director of Operations

Nicola joined the team in April 2014 on a one-year fixed contract working on an Armed Forces Covenant project.  Following the success of the project she was retained on a permanent basis as a Regional Liaison Officer for Southeast England and after seven years with the NFF, Nicola stepped into the role of Director of Operations in June 2021.

Nicola started her career in Human Resources and was fully funded by her employer to attend university and achieve a Post Graduate Certificate in HR and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management.  After many years in HR she changed career direction, due to starting a family and a husband serving in the Royal Navy, and moved into assessing NVQs.  Nicola decided to apply for the NFF position as her own lived experiences provided her with the necessary skills to advise and support families, whilst her career experiences provided the skills to communicate families’ feedback to those in a position of power.

Nicola is a keen runner and completed her first marathon in 2019.  She lives in Portsmouth with her serving husband and two children.

Chief Executive Officer

Passing out from Britannia Royal Naval College in 1990, Anna served as a logistics officer for 8 years. She is married to Stuart, a naval logistics officer and barrister, and left the Service prior to the birth of their second child in 2000.  Anna re-trained as a Business and Economics teacher and has since taught and managed in three Further Education Colleges and become an Advanced Practitioner whilst ‘following the flag’. Taking advantage of the proximity of her service family accommodation to Brunel University, she completed a master’s degree in education in 2014.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Naval Families Federation for six years she has led ground-breaking research work into the unique dynamics of the Royal Navy’s lifestyle focusing on non-operational separation, conducted a full strategic review of the organisation and led multiple projects and work-strands in important areas such as childcare, family separation, health, and education.