A healthy serving of belly laughs

Reading Force Book Club members satisfy their appetites for fun by reviewing Hangry by Kathryn Wanless and Fred Blunt Beatrice, aged six, and dad BEATRICE’S FAVOURITE page was when the girl’s mum turned int...

Sharing leave, sharing the load

By Christina Hyslop WHEN MY husband returned to work just two weeks after the birth of our son Rupert, and only four weeks after moving – far from the support of loved ones – to Shropshire, it really hit hom...

Coding classes for military children

A SERVICEMAN who spearheaded an initiative introducing young people to the power of computing is championing coding as a rewarding hobby for children. Sergeant James Smith established a Code Club using resou...

Building belonging behind the wire

BY ANNA HUTCHINSONAFF EDUCATION & CHILDCARE SPECIALIST Sitting ‘behind the wire’ on Blandford Camp, Downlands Community School is a well-established feature of the Army community in Dorset and has certai...

Support with childcare costs

WRAPPING YOUR head around childcare costs can be confusing, particularly given the Ministry of Defence has three elements to the support it extends to working families. While each can be used to meet some of t...

Join the Girls’ Brigade

GIRLS’ BRIGADE England & Wales is working with the Methodist Church to launch new groups in regions with high numbers of military families. The drive, which seeks to help girls between the ages of four a...

Competition for Month of the Military Child

  NEVER SUCH Innocence is inviting young people aged 8-18 to write a poem or create a piece of artwork reflecting on the theme ‘winds of change’ as part of its annual Month of the Military Child celebra...

Hidden in higher education

Research commissioned by the Service Children’s Progression (SCiP) Alliance has found that many young people from military families feel like ‘perpetual outsiders’ while at university. The Thriving Lives in ...
A young girl holds a photo of her dad who served in the Army. He is standing at the front of a tank

Pre-bereavement support

Scotty’s Little Soldiers is known for supporting children who have experienced the death of a parent who has served in the armed forces, whether through active service, illness, accident or if they took their...

A guide to childcare options

When AFF asked families with children aged 0-5 about their childcare experiences, more than 72 per cent of the 200 who responded said they struggled to find cover for hours they wanted and 62 per cent found i...