There are many military charities dedicated to looking after the whole army family, whether serving or ex-serving, living in the UK or overseas. Here we outline some of the avenues of support…
Army Benevolent Fund
The ABF is the army’s national charity. It works hard to ensure soldiers, veterans, and their immediate families can avoid hardship and enjoy independence and dignity. Last year, the charity supported some 75,000 members of the army family in 51 countries around the world; its youngest beneficiary was one day old, and its oldest was 104 years old. The support the ABF provides to the families of those who serve, and have served, is central to all it does.
That support can include everything from helping provide highly specialised equipment for disabled children so they can join in with family activities and increase their quality of life, to promoting the welfare of widowed spouses and bereaved children from army families, funding respite breaks for service families, and funding hospital accommodation for the families of wounded serving soldiers.
Dave and Elaine
One family the ABF was delighted to be able to help was Dave and Elaine’s. Dave, a serving soldier, and his wife, Elaine, found out that six of their young nephews and nieces were going to be taken into care, and that the children likely would be split up. The couple would not hear of this and took all six children into their care.
Faced with the need to buy six of everything, Dave initially was reluctant to seek help and instead used all his own savings. When he then reached out for assistance, the ABF immediately provided £4,000 to alleviate Dave’s financial pressures and assist with the children’s needs, thus helping create a happy home for the family.
As well as supporting immediate family members, such as the six children dependent on Dave and Elaine, via the charity’s individual grants programme, the ABF also funds numerous other charities and organisations that deliver specialist support to army families on its behalf.
In the past year, the ABF has funded more than 20 charities and organisations that support army families. These include Little Ducklings, a nursery that mainly serves the army community, as the ABF recognises that having appropriate childcare in place can be enormously beneficial to army families. The charity has also funded school holiday activity breaks run by the Army Welfare Service and funded exclusively by the ABF; the Military Wives Choir Foundation; and the Clervaux Fold, a dedicated centre for army families from Catterick Garrison, at which families can enjoy crafts, gardening and other activities, helping to boost confidence and wellbeing.
The ABF has stood at the forefront of support for the army family since 1944, and the welfare of soldiers, former soldiers, and their immediate families is at heart of everything it does. The ABF truly is there for life; for the past 80 years, it has remained dedicated to ensuring soldiers and their families are empowered to overcome challenges, move forward in their lives, and thrive.
For more information, visit armybenevolentfund.org
Army Families Federation (AFF)
AFF is the independent voice of army personnel and their families. It works to improve the quality of life for the army family, wherever you are in the world.
AFF is an independent charity and offers confidential advice. It is often pivotal in achieving improvements for army families, such as changes to government and military policy. Its role is to highlight problems to the chain of command or service providers, and to work with them and other agencies to improve the support they provide to service families.
AFF can also help you find the right person to speak to, as well as providing useful information for army families. Visit aff.org.uk
Army Central Fund (ACF)
ACF is the British Army’s grant-making charity. It was established in 1948 by merging various military welfare funds, some of which dated back to the First World War. Its investments are used to award grants worth more than £2.5m a year to help achieve a better quality of life for serving army personnel and their families.
Each year, the ACF provides approximately £750,000 of funding to Regional Command, which oversees the direct allocation of hundreds of small grants to units to improve welfare facilities and support recreational activities. The ACF also makes major annual grants towards the running costs of both the Army Families Federation and Army Sport.
Local and national charities benefit from ACF funding, enabling them to provide specialist support across the whole army community, including children’s welfare, family support, community facilities, and physical and mental health.
Recent grant recipients include the Forces Employment Charity, Reading Force and SSAFA’s Short Breaks programme.
One beneficiary of ACF’s support for Home-Start UK said: “I don’t know what I would do without my volunteer visiting, it’s really helped me not feel so alone during the deployment.”
Support can also be provided for infrastructure projects. This year £7m of funding has been provided to build a new Soldiers’ Centre at the Army Training Centre in Pirbright. But smaller capital awards are also made towards sporting facilities and children’s play areas in the UK and overseas. visit armycentralfund.org.uk
REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS
There are many different regimental associations and charities which support both serving and ex-serving personnel and their families. To find out more, see cobseo.org.uk/members/regimental-associations/
Main photo: Carole, Suli and Paddy from AFF