Army's Guide for Care Leavers

The Directorate of Personnel in Army HQ have released a new Guide for Care Leavers, which will help both Care Leavers and their managers access the appropriate support. You can find it on the Pers Pol Conditions Defence Connect page at https://jive.defencegateway.mod.uk/docs/DOC-1150391.

Toegtherall: Holiday Season Support

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This season can feel lonely, but you don’t have to go through it alone. @Togetherall offers a safe, supportive, anonymous community—free and available 24/7.There’s also a range of other helpful resources. Find connection whenever you need it, at https://account.v2.togetherall.com/register/uk-armed-forces

Little Troopers Christmas Smiles: Christmas boxes for little troopers

 

Little Troopers Christmas Smiles: Christmas boxes for little troopers

Little Troopers has worked tirelessly to secure funding and create 2,500 Christmas Smiles boxes for military children experiencing deployment over Christmas 2024.

Boxes include various Little Troopers resources for you to utilise during deployment, as well as lots of lovely festive treats to bring Christmas Smiles.

On 20th November we held a packing day and many units from the British Army and RAF came to collect boxes for their families, so lots of you will receive a box from your welfare or community teams in the next couple of weeks. The Royal Navy were unable to support the distribution of the boxes this year due to staffing shortages but we know lots of Naval families are going through deployment and we want to make sure our Christmas Smiles boxes make it to you!

DWP Vacancies: 80 New Executive Officer Work Coach Opportunities in NE England and Yorkshire

 
The Department of Work and Pensions has 80 new Executive Officer work coach opportunities in the North East of England and Yorkshire. These are now open for applications until 5th Dec 2024.

Civil Service job links : Universal Credit Job Centre - Work Coach - North East England and Yorkshire (Ref: 719) - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK

More information can be found on the DWP EO Microsite.

Empowering You Workshop, Glasgow 27th-29th Jan 2025

Empowering You is brought to you by the Forces Employment Charity, from Monday, 27 January, to Wednesday, 29 January 2025.

This is a hybrid three-day employability and confidence-building workshop with in-person components hosted in Glasgow.

It is for military women, spouses, and partners, including those who are separated, divorced, or bereaved. Please note military spouses and partners of any gender may attend.

Hear about local job opportunities and get a free one-to-one mentoring sessions with a corporate mentor!

DWP: 100 new Executive Officer opportunities in North West England, open until 3/12/24

 

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has 100 new Executive Officer opportunities in North West England which are open for application until 3/12/24.

Civil Service job links : Universal Credit Job Centre - Work Coach - North West England (Ref: 718) - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK.

​More information can be found on the DWP website: EO Microsite.

New Armed Forces Carer’s Passports are introduced

Carer’s passports are well established and widely used across many organisations throughout the UK, including the Civil Service, and have proven to be an invaluable resource for employees with caregiving responsibilities. They are now available for our Armed Forces.

It can be especially hard to balance a career in the Armed Forces alongside caring responsibilities, but the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is dedicated to support those who do.

Introducing the Armed Forces Carer’s Passport

The MOD has launched the Armed Forces Carer’s Passport, a practical and effective tool to help carers in managing their responsibilities. The passport ensures that when carers move between roles or experience a change in manager, they do not have to renegotiate the necessary arrangements from scratch. By documenting required flexibilities, the passport provides continuity and support, reducing unnecessary disruptions for both the carer and the MOD.

The passport acknowledges that operational needs will always remain the priority. However, it ensures that the carer’s circumstances are formally considered, fostering an environment where personnel feel empowered to discuss their care-giving challenges, how these might impact their work responsibilities and feel supported in their dual roles by promoting openness and mutual understanding.

Get ready for Defence Discount Service’s biggest Black Friday sale!

 

DDS are thrilled to announce that Defence Discount Service's Black Friday sale is here, and it's bigger than ever! With early access deals, exclusive daily offers, and discounts from over 150+ top brands, this is the perfect chance to save on everything you love – and just in time for Christmas!

Early offers:

• Early access offers: running through the main event! Members can start shopping these deals before the Black Friday main sale rush
• Exclusive daily deals: starting November 22, members can access 24-hour exclusive offers that change daily

Main sale dates:

November 29 - December 2
The main event is packed with enhanced savings from over 150 brands across fashion, tech, beauty, electricals, gifting, and more!

Visit the Black Friday page:

You can access the Black Friday campaign here: Defence Discount Service Black Friday campaign

Look out on the Defence Discount Service website and app as offers are revealed.

Brands to watch:

From essentials to luxuries, we have a wide range of offers for everyone. Here's a glimpse at just some of the brands taking part this year:

Samsung, LOOKFANTASTIC, Lovehoney, Currys, LG, Bill's, Ninja, Debenhams, Hotpoint, Charlotte Tilbury, Halfords, Shark, Footasylum, Garmin – and many more!

Not a member?

Sign up now at Defence Discount Service Black Friday campaign to take advantage!

Happy shopping and saving with Defence Discount Service!

Bounce Forward - Anxiety Unravelled online course starts Tue 14 Jan

Registration is now open for the next Anxiety Unravelled course for military parents and carers, funded by The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

This the 3rd of three courses being delivered in response to what military parents told us they need, both for themselves and for their children. There are more than 100,000 children with parents actively serving in the British Armed Forces, and the number of children seeking support for mental health problem is rising.

Wellbeing of the adults impacts children, if adult wellbeing is poor, then it can pass on through to their children. Children are often the forgotten service members with limited research into the impact they feel, so they are often left to struggle alone. This course helps parents to understand and recognise how best to develop resilience in their children.

​Places are FREE of charge, and there are 500 funded places. Register at this link: Anxiety Unravelled for Military Families

GamCare's 'Way Forward' programme - online support for women affected by harmful gambling

Way Forward is GamCare's support group for all women affected by someone else’s gambling harm.  Groups aim to provide a safe, supportive and confidential space for women to share their experiences, find comfort and empower one another.

Way Forward online sessions are semi-structured, running for 1.5 hours over six weeks. Groups are led by trained facilitators specialising in supporting women who are affected by gambling-related harms.

Each week will focus on the impact of different areas of gambling harm:

Army Families Federation (AFF) – childcare survey

 
AFF want to know about your experience of early years childcare.

“We want to understand how issues such as availability and cost affect your family, and how your experience varies by location, so we've launched a short survey that runs until 6 December".

Army Families' Experiences of 0-5 Childcare Survey​

Army Families Federation (AFF) immigration survey

AFF would like to know more about the unique challenges non-UK Service personnel, veterans and their families face when it comes to immigration. Who did you contact for information and advice and why? Did you get everything you needed straight away, or did you find it difficult?

Following a project funded by the Royal British Legion and working in partnership with the Naval Families Federation (NFF) and the RAF Families Federation (RAFFF), AFF have designed a survey to find out who people turn to when they need immigration information or advice.

If you are not British by birth and you or a family member are serving or have previously served in the UK Armed Forces, we would love to hear from you! British Service personnel with non-UK family members can also fill in the survey. It should take less than five minutes to complete.

Please go to surveymonkey.com/r/Non-UK_Questionnaire​

Veterans access to healthcare research briefing

 
To access the Research briefing: Veterans: Access to Health Services, please click here

Get ready for a Wraparound Childcare (WAC) expansion to some overseas locations - coming spring term 2025

 

Are you assigned to a location within the European Economic Area & Switzerland (EEA&S) or using Defence Children Services (DCS) before and after school childcare provision? WAC Overseas will be available to eligible families in these areas from 6 January 2025.

What is Wraparound Childcare funding?

The Wraparound Childcare (WAC) scheme provides funding for up to 20 hours per week, per child, during term time, to eligible Service families with children aged 4 to 11 years old (4-16 years old if receiving Government disability allowances) who are in full time education in school or being home educated. Over 7,000 Service children's before and after school childcare is currently being funded by WAC.

Temporary registration and claims process for WAC Overseas.

A temporary process will be in place from January until at least April 2025. Due to the migration of JPA to the Cloud it is not possible for WAC Overseas registrations and claims to be added to the WAC area of JPA straight away. The temporary process has been put in place to enable eligible families to claim WAC Overseas funding while this migration work takes place. Once JPA migration to the Cloud is complete, there will be a requirement to re-register to continue to submit claims, via JPA in the future. Further guidance documents will be available on the Defence Childcare Information Page on DefNet and Defence Connect in January.

The impact of VAT changes on the Continuity of Education Allowance

 

In the Budget speech The Chancellor of the Exchequer has confirmed that the government will remove the VAT exemption for private schools from 1 January 2025.

For families claiming the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) this is likely to increase private school fees.

To minimise the impact of this change, the Secretary of State has directed that the CEA rate cap will be uprated, to ensure it continues to pay up to 90% of school fees for eligible claimants.

What does this mean for CEA claimants?

NHS England - 2024 Autumn/Winter Armed Forces health stakeholder brief

 

Welcome to the Autumn/ Winter edition of our Armed Forces stakeholder brief. To mark this year’s Remembrance, NHS England and our partner Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) are urging GP practices to become veteran friendly accredited and prevent ‘silently struggling’ veterans from delaying seeking medical help.

The Veteran Friendly Accreditation scheme by the RCGP and NHS England is a quick-to-implement, free support programme that provides the general practice team with a simple process for identifying, understanding and supporting veterans and, where appropriate, referring them to specialist physical and mental healthcare services. These could include Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service, Op RESTORE: The Veterans Physical Health and Wellbeing Service and OP Nova: Supporting Veterans in the Justice System.

98% of primary care networks currently have at least one veteran friendly accredited GP practice – please help us to meet our ambition of 100% coverage, by promoting the benefits of practices becoming veteran friendly, to best support their patients who have served in the UK Armed Forces.

As we join the whole of the NHS in England in remembering the commitments and sacrifices of the Armed Forces and their families and wider communities, we wish you a peaceful Remembrance at what can be a difficult time of year for people who have served and their loved ones. Those who have served in the UK Armed Forces, and live in England can contact Op COURAGE for support with their mental health.

To download the full brief, please click here

Easy Resettlement Magazine - Autumn 2024 edition

Please click the image above to read this issue online

Civvy Street - November 2024 edition

 

Please click the image above to read this issue online

BFPO Latest Christmas Posting Dates - 2024

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https://www.gov.uk/bfpo​ 

BFPO Customer Update – Christmas Families Free Mail Service 2024

 

During the period 25 Oct – 22 Nov 24, Service personnel based in selected Defence overseas locations will be entitled to receive free welfare Christmas gifts (max 2Kg small parcel) via BFPO, these locations are shown below:

During this period, family and friends of Service personnel based in these locations will be able to post 2Kg small parcels and FFALs (Blueys), free of charge at UK Post Offices and throughout the overseas Forces Post Office network. Guidance on how to send free mail and restrictions is found at https://www.gov.uk/bfpo, and please note that all of these locations are serviced by air and particular customer attention should focus on Dangerous Air Cargo and prohibited items, as BFPO will be unable to forward items on, that contain prohibited goods.

Customers using this service should also consider, that BFPO monitor usage of the free mail service, and customers are urged to limit activity and consider the sprit of this Defence welfare offer, which is to give an opportunity for those away from family & friends over the Christmas period to receive and open gifts on Christmas day.