Sowing seeds of friendship

The importance of social connection has been brought home by the pandemic – lockdowns have simultaneously separated people from family and friends and brought neighbours together. The demands of army life, with...

A legend in the baking

When lockdown hit earlier this year in Germany, army spouse and mum Michelle Cole was craving human contact, as well as cake, so she decided the best way to combine the two was to set up a Bake-off group. We fi...

Inspirational pacesetter

Despite only catching the running bug shortly before moving to Wimbish, on arrival Katy Robinson was moved to set up a group when she found herself a jogging buddy in fellow military spouse Sam Sanders. Two yea...

Marvel at Marchwood

Captain Si Macey (RLC), the unit welfare officer from 17 Port and Maritime Regt at Marchwood, Hampshire, explains how a grant has helped to transform an under-used building into a vibrant social hub... “During...

A helping habit

From running arts and crafts at a mums’ and tots’ group and being a music librarian for one of the Military Wives Choirs to presenting on her community radio station, army spouse Donna Burns’ extensive voluntee...

Burning ambition

Army spouse Sophie Hodgson had always wanted to help people but could never put her finger on precisely how. That changed when she turned up the heat on her interest to join the fire service. “I first applied ...

Forces Scrub Hub

The Forces Scrub Hub was started by army spouse Kelly Pollard, team leader at the Sandhurst Military Coworking Hub; an initiative set-up to support military spouses working from home. With many members of the ...

Supporting little feet

ARMY spouses Lindsey Edgell and Amy Wilson came to BATUK, Kenya alongside their serving partners and saw how different life was for the local community. They heard many reports of children needing footwear and...

The people’s pavilion

DISHFORTH Yorkshire is an isolated camp with few facilities for families to go to after working hours – making downtime difficult especially when serving personnel are away. Fay and serving husband Chris used ...

Support through sadness

BEING a mother who experienced both a stillbirth and miscarriage, Army spouse Amy Woodbridge was keen to set up a supportive group in Germany for those away from their family and friends. Amy found on a previ...