2010 annual report and accounts - PDF 700KB - RAF Benevolent ...

Our goalsfor 2011You can find a full list of our goalsfor 2011 at www.rafbf.org/2011Just a few are listed below:• Install Airplay parks on atleast 10 more RAF stations• Create a second welfare breakcottage for the RAF family onthe south coast• Open a dementia wing atPrincess Marina House forpeople with mild dementiaand their carers to have abreak by the sea2011: our enduringspectrum of care“Our vision of every RAF familymember having access to thesupport they need remains asstrong as ever, while our welfareprovision continues to expandto meet those requirements.”• Raise £10m to fund ourservices for the RAF family• Increase the number of RAFfamily members we help,directly and indirectly.04 The Heart of the RAF familyController’s ReportReading this Annual Report, I am in no doubt thatwe are well placed to help the RAF family facethe future with confidence. Our vision of everyRAF family member having access to the supportthey need remains as strong as ever, while ourwelfare provision continues to expand to meetthose requirements.Indeed, our new charitable objective – to enhancethe morale and wellbeing of the serving RAF –is all the more prescient in the current climate.The series of programmes we have developedto meet this new objective are proving hugelysuccessful. To date, the Benefits and MoneyAdvice Service that we jointly fund with TheRoyal British Legion, utilising 50 Citizens AdviceBureaux, has released over £70m in unclaimedbenefits and debt relief for 24,177 clients.Of these totals, just over £9m was attributable to3,143 RAF family members – quite extraordinaryfigures. Meanwhile, our Relate service is helpinghundreds of RAF couples through the strain thatService life can place on relationships.After a successful start, Airplay youth workersare in place at 28 RAF stations, giving RAFCommunity Support teams the trained assistancethey need to deliver programmes of stimulatingactivities for young people in RAF families.Looking ahead, Airplay parks will continue toopen across the UK during 2011, giving RAFchildren access to state-of-the-art games andplay facilities on stations that are often inisolated, rural locations.Safe, supervised play is of huge importance toRAF parents, and through Airplay we will relievesome of the pressure on them at home and onthe front line.We will also expand our welfare break provisionas demand for more specialised respite caregrows by building a second short break cottagefor serving personnel, and opening a newdementia wing next door at Princess MarinaHouse, our flagship respite centre on the southcoast. We will complement these innovativeservices by developing our working partnershipswith our sister RAF charities and otherorganisations like, Combat Stress and ErskineHomes which play such an important rolein relieving stress and distress among RAFveterans and their families.Against a backdrop of a struggling economy anda major RAF reorganisation, our hallmark spectrumof care will endure. We have no intention of cuttingor reducing services that make a tangibledifference to the lives of the RAF family.Thanks to your continued support, we willalways be there for all those who have served:past, present or future. It is our duty and ourprivilege as the RAF’s leading welfare charity.Sir Marshal Sir Robert WrightKBE AFC FRAeS FCMI – Controller