The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund has awarded a grant of £80,000 in September 2017 toward SSAFA’s Casework service and other services that alleviate need, suffering and distress.
Casework sits at the heart of SSAFA’s work and provides personalised, holistic support to those currently serving, reserves, ex-service men and women, and their families. In recent years their Casework service has seen increasing numbers of working age beneficiaries requiring help. These beneficiaries have complex needs, including financial hardship, mental wellbeing issues, inadequate housing and lack of employment.
The generous support of the RAF Benevolent Fund will ensure that we charity can continue to address the needs of members of the RAF family who approach SSAFA for help.
The grant funding will also support SSAFA’s wider work that benefits the RAF community. These services include SSAFA Mentoring which helps wounded, injured and sick service personnel achieve their full potential in civilian life; Forcesline, SSAFA’s free confidential helpline; and free ‘home from home’ accommodation at Norton House, Headley Court and Fisher House, Birmingham for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and their families whilst they receive medical treatment at DMRC, Headley Court and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.
Making a difference to the lives of members of the RAF family
Tegan Jones, Director of Fundraising at SSAFA, said: “SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity has long worked in partnership with the RAF Benevolent Fund. We are proud to both be working towards a common goal of supporting the Royal Air Force family. This generous grant will enable us to further invest in our vital service provisions for serving personnel, veterans and their families. From the point of initial contact via our Forcesline service to achieving positive and tailored changes for those in need, SSAFA is here to help.”
Alison Wyman, Head of Welfare Programmes and Development at the RAF Benevolent Fund, said: “Caseworkers play a really vital role in the work that the RAF Benevolent Fund does. They help some of the most vulnerable individuals. They go out and visit those people in their own home and assess what the need is and they look at the best way that we might be able to help.
“Being a caseworker is not an easy job at all but the really important work that they do enables us to continue to support people and to remain at the heart of the RAF Family. Thanks to the excellent work SSAFA caseworkers do, the RAF Benevolent Fund has been able to grant £3.3million to those who need it most.
“The Fund is proud to work with charities like SSAFA helping to fund services like Forcesline, SSAFA Mentoring and the free ‘home from home’ accommodation scheme providing for RAF personnel, past and present.”
Ends
For more information and high res images please contact: Rebekah Sharrock, PR Officer, RAF Benevolent Fund, E: rebekah.sharrock@rafbf.org.uk | T: 020 7307 3305 | M: 07595 657979.
RAF Benevolent Fund: The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund is the RAF’s leading welfare charity. We exist to support current and former members of the RAF, their partners and dependants, whenever they need us. In 2016 we spent £17.6m supporting more than 65,000 members of the RAF Family. For more information visit: www.rafbf.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/RAFBF
