Aggie Weston’s
Key role: Supporting families
Aggie Weston’s is here to help serving members of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and their families. They provide pastoral support around the country and enable families to stay connected through projects such as Storybook Waves. More information can be found here.
Help for Heroes
Key Role: Fundraising and grant making, advice and guidance, support to families
Help for Heroes are a vast network of professionals and partners. They help serving members of the Armed Forces and Veterans and support families through physical and emotional rehabilitation and recovery, identifying new career opportunities as well as offering financial and welfare support. They also run beneficiary support networks, to offer support, camaraderie and a listening ear.
During their first 10 years, they have directly helped more than 17,000 individuals and their families in this way. Offering this to thousands more who need it remains possible thanks to their supporters, and specialist charity partners. More information can be found here.
The Royal British Legion (RBL)
Key Role: Fundraising and grant-making, advice and guidance, support to families
The Royal British Legion provides lifelong support for the Armed Forces Community – Serving men and women (Regulars and Reservists), veterans, and their families. They provide information, advice and guidance to help the Armed Forces Community find and access the support they need.
The Legion provides families of serving and ex-Service personnel the chance to take a break and get away from the stresses and strains of everyday life through their Family Holiday Breaks scheme. They also run Adventure Breaks for young people, so that they can enjoy themselves, meet new people, have new experiences, improve their self-esteem and most of all have fun, while giving parents a well-earned break. More information can be found here.
The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children’s Fund
Key Role: Providing financial support for children
The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children’s Fund (RNRMCF) provides a range of support to children whose parents work, or have worked, for the Naval Service. This support includes childcare, special needs education, days out and in-home support in times of crisis. An area of particular growth has been the Charity’s focus on assisting children within its remit who have special needs. This work now accounts for nearly half of its awards to beneficiaries. In the last year alone, RNRMCF has supported over 1,500 children, but with over 40,000 servicemen currently in the Naval Service, it is keen to ensure that Naval families know where to find them. More information can be found here.
The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust (RNBT)
Key Role: Providing financial support
RNBT gives help, in cases of need, to serving and former Royal Naval ratings and Royal Marines other ranks, which includes Reservists. They also help their partners, children and some others connected with them. They make grants to assist in a very wide variety of circumstances, such as help towards living expenses, house repairs, disability aids, job training, all sorts of financial difficulties, care home top-up fees, domiciliary care and much more. Every year RNBT respond to just under three thousand applications with grants totaling about £1.3 million. More information can be found here.
SAIL
Key Role: Advice and guidance
Seafarers’ Advice and Information Line – this organisation gives free advice to seafarers and their families on issues such as benefits, debt, housing and is part of the UK’s Citizen’s Advice Network. More information can be found here.
SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association)
Key Role: Fundraising and grant-making, advice and guidance, support to families
SSAFA provides lifelong support to anyone who is currently serving or has ever served in the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the British Army or the Royal Air Force (Regulars and Reserves) and their families. They have a network of trained volunteers on Army, RAF and Naval bases in the UK and around the world who can give you local support. They provide a range of personalised services, including welfare advice, housing and healthcare, and signposting to organisations that offer more specialised support. More information can be found here.
SSAFA Forcesline is a free and confidential telephone helpline and email service that provides support for Serving (regulars and reserves) and ex-Service men and women from the Armed Forces and for their families. As an independent charity, SSAFA is not part of the military Chain of Command. The team are there to listen and not to judge. They can give you factual information and ‘signpost’ ways forward to assist you. They can also speak with you in confidence if you, or someone you know, are absent without leave (AWOL).
To contact Forcesline from the UK, please call the freephone number: 0800 731 4880. The line is open from 0900 – 1700 (UK local time) Monday – Friday. To contact Forcesline from overseas please call –
Germany: 0800 731 4880
Cyprus: 800 91065
Falkland Islands: # 6111
Anywhere in the world (Call-back): + 44 (0)207 463 9292
To email Forcesline, click here.