GROWING UP IN THE RAF THE WELLBEING OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE SERVING PARENTS Many thousands of children and CONTENTS CONTENTS young people have parents who are serving in the RAF. This report from [To be populated once the structure below has been confirmed to work in the design] the RAF Benevolent Fund looks at how FOREWORDS 4 this affects their wellbeing, and how EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 they can be better supported. INTRODUCTION 8 Our important new research report is the first in- METHODOLOGY 9 depth study of the wellbeing of children and young people who have one or both parents serving in RESEARCH FINDINGS 10 the RAF. The report gives a voice to children and young people who are growing up with one or CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 15 both parents in the RAF. Its insights can: • help parents, teachers and other professionals ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 17 better understand the children and young people they are supporting, and • help policymakers and service providers to develop better policies and services, to support the wellbeing of children and young people. 2 3 FOREWORDS I fully support this Growing up in the RAF It is also deeply encouraging to see another I am delighted to see the results of this timely I am proud to introduce this report which is the research report undertaken by the Royal Air example of what can be achieved when our and insightful research, which is underpinned by first of its kind to look exclusively at the impact of Force Benevolent Fund. I know from my own services and service charities work closely the first-hand accounts of 95 children from their RAF service life on children growing up in the UK. experience in the Army, the challenges and together to respond to the many challenges experiences of living in a Royal Air Force family. It builds on existing influential studies into the disruption being part of a service family brings. faced by our families in these uncertain times, To hear the voice of children and young people impact of military life on families, including the and I thank the Royal Air Force Benevolent is incredibly important and it is imperative that I am delighted to note that the Royal Air Children’s Commissioner’s report from 2018, Kin Fund for all they do to support our airmen we take on board their feedback and use it to Force have already committed to work with and Country: Growing up as an Armed Forces child, and airwomen, and their families. enhance the support that is provided for them. the Fund in taking their recommendations and the recent Living in our Shoes: Understanding the I am acutely aware that, whether children are forward. Importantly, this research very usefully I hope everyone involved in the lives of the needs of UK Armed Forces families, commissioned living on a station or elsewhere in the UK or complements work already underway in the children and young people with serving parents by the Ministry of Defence in 2020. Overseas, they face unique challenges from other services, and at Defence level, all designed take note of this research so together we can having one or both parents serving in the Royal Since this research was conducted, the Covid-19 to ensure that we not only listen carefully to have a positive impact on the wellbeing of Air Force. pandemic has emerged and presented additional the distinct and significant group of children children and young people growing up with challenges for the RAF Family. Our response and young people, but also take prompt and one or both parents serving in the RAF. The Royal Air Force and the Royal Air Force has included making £2.5K available for each appropriate action on what we hear. Benevolent Fund have worked side-by-side for RAF station to provide activity and wellbeing more than 100 years to support our personnel Supporting the younger generation is not packs for RAF children during lockdown, and the and their families and I am looking forward only important for promoting and improving expansion of our counselling provision to include to working with the Fund to take forward the their mental wellbeing today but also acts as children and young people. report’s recommendations. a bedrock for their health and happiness as Johnny Mercer MP We look forward to seeing the difference that adults in the future. The development of key life Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State this research makes over the months and years skills such as resilience, self-awareness, and the for Defence People and Veterans ahead and to working with others to achieve this. ability to communicate feelings are particularly important for children who experience separation and frequent moves. Air Vice-Marshal Maria Byford Chief of Staff Personnel and Air Secretary Air Vice-Marshal Chris Elliot CB CBE Controller, RAF Benevolent Fund 4 5 THE REPORT RECOMMENDS: wellbeing support should be further developed within the RAF Benevolent Fund’s EXECUTIVE SUMMARY the RAF Benevolent Fund’s counselling service Airplay programme for children and young for young people be promoted more widely. Our new research report – Growing up in the At the same time, the report shows that having people, including providing information RAF: The wellbeing of children and young people a parent in the RAF can also be sad, hard and family counselling be promoted more widely and resources within the Airplay Connect who have serving parents – provides the first worrying for children and young people. (family counselling is available to RAF families, digital platform. in-depth look at the wellbeing of children funded by the RAF Benevolent Fund). Children and young people with parents in the schools and other professionals should and young people with one or both parents RAF have added stresses, especially in relation further support be provided to RAF personnel, use the Service Children’s Progression serving in the RAF. to the deployment of a parent and frequent to help them understand the feelings their (SCiP) Alliance’s new Thriving Lives Toolkit, to The report gives children and young people’s own station moves. children may be having, and how these increase understanding of the challenges perspectives on this important subject. Some children can be supported. This could be service children and young people may Deployment can make children anxious about 34,000 children have one or more parents who through the RAF Benevolent Fund’s Thrive be experiencing. their parents’ health and safety. It can also put are serving RAF personnel. programme of webinars and workshops, as more stress on the at-home parent, resulting the deployment information provided to RAF well as its station grants programme. Life with a parent serving in the RAF certainly in additional responsibilities for children and personnel and their partners be reviewed has its positives: it can be fun and exciting, young people. to ensure that the findings of this research and it can give children opportunities that they are fully reflected, including the support that Frequent postings can mean having to adjust to would not otherwise have had. Children and is available. new surroundings and leaving friends behind. young people are often proud of their parents. In many cases, this inspires children to pursue a Though service children are often seen as being career in the Armed Forces themselves. resilient, they need to know that it is okay to experience and express negative feelings. And there is more we can be doing to support the children of RAF personnel. upsetting stressful good fun difficult sad different bad cool exciting hard worrying scary Words used to describe what it is like to be a child in the RAF Family. 6 7 INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY WHY THIS RESEARCH AND WHY NOW? There have been studies of UK military families The research we conducted involved working RESEARCH ETHICS AND CONSENT showing that deployment can be especially collaboratively with Action for Children (who At the RAF Benevolent Fund, we use research As the research involved children and young difficult, leading to stress and anxiety, changing are currently delivering the Fund’s Airplay (some of it commissioned from others, some people as participants, we were careful to follow family structures and roles. programme) and the RAF Community Support carried out ourselves) to provide insight into the British Psychological Society’s Code of Human Team. the RAF Family and its needs, and to ensure But there had been no RAF-specific studies Research Ethics. We paid the utmost respect to that the Fund’s welfare provision is informed looking just at the wellbeing of children and We did not start with a hypothesis regarding the children and young people’s autonomy, privacy by current evidence. young people. Most previous studies also concerns that children and young people might and dignity, as the fieldwork involved asking gathered data from the parents’ perspective, have; rather we allowed concerns and issues questions about sensitive aspects of their lives. Our previous research reports have focused rather than listening to children and young around wellbeing to emerge from the responses that on adult members of the RAF Family, but it was We obtained the informed prior consent of people themselves. the children and young people themselves provided. becoming increasingly clear that we also need participants and their parents and we made sure to better understand the experience of children We asked children and young people themselves that support was on hand in case distressing and young people with serving parents. HOW MANY CHILDREN ARE WE about their wellbeing, and what their lives are issues arose. like. We did not ask parents on their behalf.