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21st December 2011
Miles More Minutes : Keeping Our Boys And Girls In Touch With Their Families This Christmas
The RAF Association will send another 3,000 Miles More Minutes telephone cards out to Afghanistan this Christmas to support serving personnel.
The new cards, funded by Association members, branches and donations from members of the public, will provide an additional 60,000 minutes of precious telephone time for personnel to talk to their loved ones back home.
But these new cards are not just for Christmas. Instead of a monetary value, each has a time value of 20 minutes which can be used at any time during 2012.
Flight Lieutenant Stu Hickin, who received last year’s Miles More Minutes card, said: “When I first arrived in theatre, we got off the plane, were put into transit accommodation for the night and issued a MOD Paradigm card. The majority of people were hoping to use these so they could let their loved ones know they had arrived in theatre safely but the cards weren’t activated for three or four days.
“Luckily, before I departed Valley, I was given a RAF Association phone card to allow me to let my loved ones know that I was here safely. I actually had a decent amount of conversation instead of it being just a two second thing”.
Squadron Leader Alan Huyton, Executive Officer, Air Traffic Control, Bastion Airfield said: “Just being remembered by someone other than family members gives such a boost to the men and women working here, we are all very grateful for the generosity and thought”.
Several squadrons have been nominated to receive telephone cards by their linked RAF Association branches, as have the Medical Emergency Response Teams.
In addition, the Association is working with the Community Support Team to identify those personnel who might otherwise miss out, so that they can be included in the distribution.
The RAF Association’s Director of Fundraising, Rachel Huxford, said: “We have had some brilliant feedback from the cards that have already gone out to Afghanistan.
“It is great to hear that they are really appreciated and that it makes such a difference to morale. The cards are in high demand and really make a difference to people’s lives.
“We couldn’t have done this without your support. Thank you from all of us, but especially the men and women deployed in Afghanistan who now have more time to talk with their families waiting back home”.
For more information about The RAF Association, visit their website: http://www.rafa.org.uk/
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