Checklist for this page

Superb Savings For The PSP Southampton Boat Show
New Cecil Beaton outdoor display
British Military Tournament, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December, Earls Court, London
The Army Photographic Competition 2010
The Outward Bound Trust
Inheritance Tax Exemption for Fallen Personnel
Support for Service families
National Insurance credits for spouses and civil partners accompanying Service personnel on overseas assignments
The Armed Forces' Pay Review Body
The Defence Green Paper
March For Honour
Publication of the first annual report into delivery against 'The Nation's Commitment'
Post a message of thanks
Army housing in the news
Latest news on the Forces Post Offices in NATO HQs

Superb Savings For The PSP Southampton Boat Show 10 – 19 September 2010

Make the most of the last days of summer at the PSP Southampton Boat Show.  From 10 – 19 September 2010, the UK’s leading outdoor boat show returns to Mayflower Park, bringing hundreds of boats, exhibitors and visitors together on the south coast.

This year, Show organisers are offering Armed Forces personnel half price on-the-door tickets (full ticket price £18), so for just £9 visitors can enjoy the very best of the UK’s vibrant marine industry. For military personnel to claim their half price tickets, simply turn up to the Show and show a valid military ID card to gain entry for just £9. Offer excludes press and preview day on 10 September. Each ticket admits one adult and two children aged 15 and under.

 New Cecil Beaton outdoor display

Tyneside Shipyards, 1943: Photographs by Cecil Beaton. 12 June 2010 - July 2011, FREE ENTRY, www.iwm.org.uk/north  

Thirty years after the death of photographer Cecil Beaton, Imperial War Museum North is displaying some of his most iconic Second World War shipyard images in huge 5m high frames outside the Museum - on The Quays in Manchester.

Beaton was best known for society portraits and fashion photography, working in Hollywood and for Vogue and Vanity Fair. His celebrity images include the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Mick Jagger. Yet he also worked as an official photographer for the Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Commissioned to record the work of northern shipyards, the resulting photographs are a striking combination of intimate portraits and dizzying views of the shipyard architecture.  Click here for full details.

British Military Tournament, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December, Earls Court, London

The British Military Tournament will be presented by ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and will bring together all the best elements of the world famous Royal Tournament, incorporating them into a new show for the 21st century. The Tournament will take place on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December with two performances on each day. All proceeds from the event will go to ABF The Soldiers’ Charity.  For more information please see the PRESS RELEASE.

The Army Photographic Competition 2010

The Army Photographic Competition 2010 has been announced. The competition is open to all Regular Army and TA personnel, staff and cadets of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF), Army Cadet Force (ACF), University Officer Training Corps and Ministry of Defence civilians and contractors who work directly for the Army. Dependants and partners of serving personal are allowed to enter categories 1-8. Closing date for entries is Friday 29 October 2010. For full details please click here.

The Outward Bound Trust

The Outward Bound Trust is looking for the one million plus people who have participated in an Outward Bound course since its inception in 1941.

For nearly 70 years, generations of young people have been having the same intense Outward Bound experiences and they would like to hear about them.

The Trust has created a unique space www.outwardboundgenerations.org.uk for all the generations of Outward Bounders to share their stories. They want to place the different generations of Outward Bounders in the same ‘room’ online and give them the chance to share their stories. ‘Generations’ will create a new community of shared experiences that reach across the decades.

Over a million people have attended Outward Bound. This is the time for them to connect and share their story. All Outward Bounders need to do is visit www.outwardboundgenerations.org.uk and tell it how it was.

Inheritance Tax Exemption for Fallen Personnel

The family of a former Royal Navy airman who died as a result of active service in the first Gulf War has been repaid nearly £53,000 inheritance tax after his father read an article about exemptions in The Daily Telegraph.

Now accountants claim that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) must do more to ensure that all servicemen's bereaved families are aware of this exemption, which they say many professional advisers overlook.

A spokesman for the MOD said: "This is something that every solicitor or other professional person engaged to act as executor for the estate of a deceased member of the Armed Forces should know about”.

To read the story in full please visit the Telegraph website.

For further information contact the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) - 01452 519951.

Support for Service families

Gina Ford is the bestselling author of ‘The Contented Little Baby’ which was first published in 1999. She has gone on to write a further 9 books covering subjects such as weaning, feeding, sleeping, potty training and twins; as well as the popular ‘Ella and Tom’ series of books.

Gina retired from Maternity nursing in 2000 and continued to help parents in a consultancy role. Then in 2004, recognising that many mothers still felt isolated in spite of the wealth of information available, Gina launched Contentedbaby.com a dynamic, friendly online community.

Gina recognises the demands made upon Service families can mean that the amount of time mothers/fathers may have to cope on their own whilst their spouse is deployed on operations is substantial and Gina would like to show her support for the families by offering a free membership to The Contented Baby website and forums.  Click here for more details and how to become a member. 

National Insurance credits for spouses and civil partners accompanying Service personnel on overseas assignments

From 6 April 2010 Service spouses and civil partners will be able to claim National Insurance credits, to maintain their National Insurance record, for time spent accompanying their spouse or civil partner on an overseas assignment. Click here for more details or see page 16 of your new spring Journal.

The Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body

The Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body has been published. The Government has accepted the recommendations in full, which will be implemented from 1st April. Click here to read the main recommendations which will affect our serving spouses.

The Defence Green Paper

The Defence Green Paper, “Adaptability and Partnership: Issues for a Strategic Defence Review” (Cm 7794), was published on 3 February 2010.

The Green Paper is the first part of the process leading to a new Strategic Defence Review, which will decide the future shape and role of the Armed Forces. For more information visit the MOD website. Read the Defence Green Paper.

March For Honour

The March For Honour is a Tri-Service unification of four teams represented by the Royal Marines Commandos, the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force. The four teams will start from four separate locations in the UK, speed marching an individually dedicated mile for every UK loss sustained in Afghanistan & Iraq. 

They will be raising money on behalf of the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal 2010 and Veterans, who have sustained physical and mental injuries, including the bereaved families of those Killed In Action. Visit the March For Honour website for full details.

Publication of the first annual report into delivery against 'The Nation’s Commitment', a Command Paper launched last summer

The Service Personnel Command Paper was commissioned by the Prime Minister in November 2007 and published in July 2008. It set out over 40 commitments to improve the level of support to the Armed Forces Community in key areas like compensation, healthcare, and accommodation. It established enduring principles for the future – of special treatment where appropriate for Armed Forces personnel, for families and for veterans, and that those same groups should not be disadvantaged as a result of service. Visit the MoD website to read the report.

Post a message of thanks

With over 1800 messages already posted, check out www.wearegrateful.org.uk to add your message of thanks and support to our forces personnel.  Click on the sticky notes to read the full message. There is also an option to donate to service related charities.

Army housing in the news

The Public Accounts Committee Report (PACR) on Service Accommodation has highlighted the fact that almost a third of service families who took part in the NAO survey stated that they considered their houses to be in poor condition and nearly a quarter regarded their properties as poorly maintained.

AFF have a long history of trying to secure a fair deal for Army families, and housing remains perhaps the most emotive of all subjects for Army families. AFF believes that Defence Estates and Modern Housing Solutions are very aware of the myriad of issues over housing, and endeavour to work closely together to resolve long standing problems on repairs and maintenance move in/move out problems and cleanliness of SFA. However, no matter what any Government says about commitment to soldiers and their housing, the fact remains that DE is hamstrung by tightly controlled Whitehall budgets in its aim to resolve long standing problems caused by decades of under investment.

At this time when all public expenditure is under scrutiny it would be devastating to the progress made by Defence Estates in improving the provision of Army housing if their budgets where placed under any further constraints. Planning, policy and structure have all been improved over the last 12 months and it is now time for Army families to experience the benefits of this.

The PACR also highlights as an area of concern the cost of maintaining empty quarters’, stating that “the MOD should speed up its process of decision making or dispose of these.” AFF would suggest that while this would equate to short term cost savings it would lead to further issues of availability and choice in the not too distant future. SFA once released back to Annington Homes for sale in the private sector can never be recovered for use as SFA again. AFF is aware that there is massive political pressure on Defence Estates to reduce the number of empty or void SFA by a significant level but this can be achieved by intelligent allocation, repairs and better planning which would not disadvantage families’ choices in the future.

Latest news on the Forces Post Offices in NATO HQs

In June this year, the MOD took the decision to close twelve Forces Post Offices (FPOs) in NATO HQs with British elements. These were FPOS at SHAPE, Brussels, Brunssen, Ramstein, Stavanger, Karup, Naples, Rome, Milan, Lisbon, Valencia and Norfolk VA.

Since that time there has been a huge outcry from the Army Community that the impact of these closures went beyond postal issues. AFF is pleased to report that as a result these initial plans have been revised to take account of the impact that the loss of a BFPO address has on Army personnel and their families.

Most importantly, the BFPO numbers will be retained, these are vital for administrative purposes such as banking.

The Forces Post Offices will close, however they will maintain a basic receipt and dispatch facility; it will no longer be possible to send parcels back to the UK however it will still be possible to receive parcels. The Enduring Free Mail Service, which allows families and friends to send packages of up to 2kg out to named personnel on operations for free, will NOT be affected. It is envisaged that dependents will be employed to provide this receipt/dispatch facility.

Outside the basic mail provision “Over the Counter” post office services will end, so personnel and their dependants will have to use the local indigenous postal services.

These changes are scheduled to be in place by September 2010.

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