Beloved members of the RAF who have given their lives for their country were remembered by relatives and friends on Friday 16 June 2017 when The Royal Air Forces Association held its annual remembrance service.
The ceremony at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire gave around 300 family members, friends and colleagues the opportunity to commemorate the lives of relatives and ancestors who lost their lives, some of whom have no grave or last resting place.
Read moreA WWII veteran was finally presented with medals he earned from the campaign, 72 years after leaving the RAF. The medal ceremony for Albert Pemberton-Sheen formed part of the formal launch of the RAF Association’s new Wings Centre, on Fishergate, Preston, on Tuesday 6 June 2017. As well as Albert, guests of honour included the mayor of Preston and the secretary general of the Royal Air Forces Association.
Read moreThe RAF Association is proud to celebrate all of their 3,340 volunteers. To celebrate Volunteers’ Week we are spotlighting a few of these special volunteers. First up is Jeni, a Befriender from Lincolnshire.
Please introduce yourself
I’m Jeni, I was in the RAF for 11 years as an assistant air traffic controller and now I’m an emergency care practitioner. I work and volunteer in Lincolnshire as a Befriender, volunteering since last December.
Read moreWhen Deborah and her husband were worrying with the stress of her mum’s care home fees, they turned to the RAF Association for support.
Deborah’s dad was a pilot during WWII, staying in the air force for eight years. He met Deborah’s mum, Pat after leaving the Air Force and they were happily married for many years until he passed away, leaving Pat alone. Nowadays, Pat is sadly living with mixed dementia, she has had Alzheimer’s disease for many years, but when a stroke left her struggling with mobility, she was further diagnosed with vascular dementia.
Read moreWhen living independently was starting to be too much for John, he got in touch with the Royal Air Forces Association, to see if there was any support available.
John served in the Royal Air Force from 1970 to 1977. He was an aerospace systems operator and served throughout the UK as well as in Malta, Cyprus and Belgium. After deciding to leave the RAF he moved abroad, instructing and training in Saudi Arabia, before meeting his wife and returning to the UK.
Read moreA group of serving Royal Air Force personnel are cycling an 82 mile ‘Tour of Lincs’ in a single day, to raise funds for the Royal Air Forces Association.
Led by a group of RAF personnel based at RAF Scampton, the team currently has 20 members signed up for the ride on 19 April 2017. They will tour five RAF Stations in Lincolnshire, stopping at each to raise funds and talk about the work of the Association. Members of RAF Scampton’s cycle club are also heavily involved.
Read moreFollow this link to the latest edition of Connect from the Royal Air Forces Association.
Read moreRAF Association’s Storybook Wings scheme helps serving parents to ‘make it home’ for bedtime
70% of parents read to their child at least once a day*, according to new research from the Royal Air Forces Association, the largest UK charity for serving and former RAF personnel.
The Association surveyed members of the public ahead of International Storytelling Day to find out more about the average bedtime in a UK household. Despite technological advances, a surprising 83% of parents and grandparents still prefer to read physical books to their child/grandchild, rather than using devices like a Kindle or iPads.
Read moreThe RAF Association supports members of the RAF family in many different ways. When Ian felt like he was losing his independence, he reached out to the RAF Association.
Ian joined the RAF in 1958, working as a teleprinter operator, sending signals from station to station. During his time in the RAF, Ian served at many UK bases, including Brize Norton,
Read moreNew research from the Royal Air Forces Association shows that less than one in five (19%) adults think UK military veterans are well looked after.[1]
This figure does fluctuate across different age groups, but remains worryingly low throughout – it is lowest (9%) among respondents aged 65+, while people aged 25-34 had most confidence (32%) that veterans are well looked after.
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Afghanistan support
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here
