During a recent visit to the Loan Service team in Brunei, AFF discussed aspects of life with personnel and families. The meeting was held in a stylish community building that had been refurbished through self-help and lots of fundraising.
Karen
Army&You chatted to Karen, a military spouse, to find out why she took action to improve the building. Having been overseas with her family since 2017, she said: “This community felt so different from our other postings, with a lack of social scene in Brunei and welfare space. For this reason, I was driven to raise funds to make the space better for the 29 service personnel and their families.”
Feeling of isolation
She explained that being ‘on loan’ to the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), the British families are very integrated into the local community. However, on arrival in Bandar, it was clear that changes needed to be made. While there was a small centre for use by UK personnel, it was very unloved.
“The community was still feeling the impact of COVID and many people were feeling isolated,” she added.
With a background in the not-for-profit sector and experience of fundraising, she helped to secure more than $140,000 BND worth of funding. Considering this was the 40th anniversary of the UK Loan Service in Brunei, and they didn’t even have access to a bank account before, this was a great achievement.
Improvements made
Projects were chosen to ensure that all members of the small community would benefit. The unused upstairs space was transformed, using a significant grant from the NAAFI Fund, into an adult rec space with pool table, darts board and communal TVs. Thanks to the RAF Diaspora Fund, the outside space is now shaded, a space previously unusable due to the heavy rain and strong sun.
A grant from the Nuffield Trust has created a flexible family room, a media room and a kids’ room. Karen added: “We are fortunate to be in receipt of a grant from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust: Force for Change programme to run a kids’ club, Monkey Madness. This will continue until 2025 and is a real benefit to the community as everyone is getting involved in exciting events such as jungle survival days.”
There are plans to use their most recent award, from the BFBS Welfare Fund, to provide a shaded playground and update the outside space, to furnish the kids’ room and enhance the safety of the space.
Team effort
Karen was keen to stress that all of these changes have been led, managed and designed by a team of volunteers.
Karen’s top tip for others in remote and isolated communities overseas was: “Be the change you want to see. You might only be somewhere for two or three years but your legacy will make hundreds of military families’ lives better.”
If you would like to share your army community success story, email editor@aff.org.uk