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Directory of support Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund
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Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund

The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAFBF) is the RAF’S leading welfare charity and spends over £17 million per year meeting the needs of the RAF Family. It provides a range of support services for the children and young people of serving RAF Personnel, ranging from its multi-million-pound youth support programme called Airplay to its CYP Listening and Counselling Service.

The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAFBF) is the RAF’S leading welfare charity and spends over £17 million per year meeting the needs of the RAF Family. Provision for Children and Young People comes via two main programmes.

Airplay & Ben Clubs

Airplay and Ben Clubs are the RAF Benevolent Fund's youth support programme, providing youth club sessions on RAF stations and access to the digital platform Airplay Connect, developed for children living on and away from stations. Airplay is delivered at 24 stations across the country and provide safe, supervised activities for children and young people aged five to 18 through a network of trained youth workers. This includes our Ben Clubs which are aimed at children aged five to seven. Airplay at RAF Valley is delivered by the Station Youth Worker under contract by our partner One YMCA. For more information contact airplay.team@oneymca.org.

Listening and Counselling Service

To support the children and young people of the RAF Family we have launched a specialist counselling service. The service, provided through our partner Relate, is available for children and young people aged 11 to 18 and on a case-by-case basis for those aged 5 to 10. The service offers support on a wide range of wellbeing and mental health issues including anxiety, low mood, family separation and change, sexuality, bullying and academic pressure. To find out more call our helpline on 0300 222 5703 or support@rafbf.org.uk

www.rafbf.org

Service children’s quotes

"As soon as we get used to a house, you get moved - I’ve been to four schools and moved six times."

Aiden

"I lived in Nepal, then we went to Brunei, then Malaysia."

Ashim

"In my eyes, you have hundreds of friends in different places."

Chloe

"I’m used to moving now and mixing with the children... I’ve done it so many times, it’s just a normal thing now."

Chloe

"It's ok talking over skype and that, but sometimes you just want a hug when Dad is away."

Georgia

"I’ve enjoyed going around to lots of places around the world, it's adventurous and exciting."

Harry

"In my eyes, you have hundreds of friends in different places."

Ieuan

"My mum got a chalk board and it says how many sleeps on it with chalk, every minute it’s getting closer for him coming home."

Mia

"I don’t want him to get promoted... I want him to get promoted but I don’t want to leave."

Oliver

"I might be going to boarding school so that I don’t change schools every few years."

Ryan

"I've been to seven different schools; I’ve not stayed put in one school long enough."

Shana

"He has been away for six months and he is back for two weeks, then he goes away again."

Sianed

"My parents were in the Army. My mum is a like a nurse and my dad went to the war in Afghanistan. I actually didn’t really know what he was doing so I was like, ‘Cool Dad, go there,’ but then I found out and thought, 'Thank God he came back alive.'"

Sanjog

"He signed off last week, so he will be done by the end of this year. He’s done 24 years. I find that better because he will be around a lot. He likes watching us playing rugby, so he will get to see us more."

Lewis

"I’m going to a new place entirely. They don’t know anything about me and that’s a big restart and that’s really good for me."

Piaras

"I moved to Wales because my dad was posted in the Army. I thought I would get bullied and I was shy when you meet new people, but I made some friends."

Dan