Wales: Free online courses for partners & spouses of Armed Forces Personnel from The Family Foundation - Starting a Small Business

 

The Family Foundation - Project Restart

Looking to start a business or learn new skills?

We’re excited to share a range of FREE online courses designed specifically for Spouses & Partners of serving personnel

Whether you’re exploring a side hustle, thinking about starting a small business, or want to build practical skills — there’s something here for you

• Starting a Small Business Courses
• Turn an idea into a real opportunity
• Learn how to plan, launch and grow
• Build confidence to take that first step
• Bookkeeping Courses
• Understand the numbers behind a business
• Learn essential financial skills
• Perfect for supporting your own business or boosting employability
• Study at your own pace, online and flexible around family life

Access everything here:

https://lea-s-site-4be5.thinkific.com/bundles/project-restart

We’re also exploring a face-to-face workshop at St Athan for anyone who would like extra support — let us know if this would be of interest!

Any queries please contact: 

info@thefamilyfoundation.co.uk 

Information provided by Wales HIVE Hub

Lichfield: Sign up for the 2026 garden waste service

If you’d like your garden waste bin(s) emptied fortnightly during 2026, you’ll need to subscribe to our garden waste service.

The service costs £42.50 per bin for 2026, covering up to 23 fortnightly collections from late January/early February to mid-December, regardless of when you sign up. www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/gardenwasteform

Information provided by Central HIVE Hub

Staffordshire: School Nurse Virtual Drop-in Clinic - Thursdays 15.30-16.30

School nurse drop-in clinic available online every Thursday 3.30-4.30pm (also in school holidays). For parents and young people, including those not in education or training.

Information provided: Central HIVE Hub

St Andrews: The next Armed Forces Breakfast Club at Craigtoun Cafe is Sunday 5th April

The April meeting of Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club will take place in the Craigtoun Cafe Sunday, 5th April. 

The Cafe will be open for veterans from 10 o'clock and they will be more than welcome to stay on to enjoy all the fun of the Easter Fayre and to meet the Easter Bunny! 🐰🐣

Information provided by Leuchars HIVE

Leuchars: East of Scotland Combined Medical Practice (EoSCMP) – Service Update

The practice will soon be relocating to the new Leuchars Health Centre, and we thank our patients for their tolerance during this disruptive moving period. 

We have now received further updates indicating that we should be able to move into the new Health Centre in the coming weeks. This will require a temporary reduction in clinical services during the transition to enable the final stages of the move.

Service changes during the transition:

From 7 April 2025, the practice will operate an emergency-only provision. Urgent and unscheduled care, as well as urgent operational medical support, will continue unaffected. However, routine and non-urgent appointments will be delayed until the week beginning 27 April.

Shorncliffe: Army Welfare Service Community Support Junior Youth Club every Mon 1630 - 1800hrs

Information provided by South East HIVE Hub

Introducing the Continuity of Education Allowance advisory helpdesk

Introducing the Continuity of Education Allowance advisory helpdesk

A new team is ready to help you with questions about Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA).

Moving around for your work in the Armed Forces can make it hard to keep your children's education on track. This is where CEA comes in – helping your children stay settled in education, even when Service life means your family must move.

Here to help

Sometimes, working out if you’re eligible to claim CEA – or how to claim it – can feel complicated and confusing, as every situation is different. That’s why we've set up a new team in the Pay and Allowances Casework and Complaints Cell (PACCC) to assist.

From 1 April 2026, the CEA advisory helpdesk will provide a group of experts to help you, your family, or your Unit HR team with any tricky questions about the allowance.

Whether you're trying to understand the rules or need help with a complex case, the team will point you to the right people and make sure you get clear guidance.

The new helpdesk works alongside the Education Advisory Team (EAT) (UK) service within Defence Children Services (DCS). This remains available to provide professional, independent advice, guidance, and support to Service families on children’s education – covering school admissions, Special Educational Needs Allowance (SENA), and boarding school applications (including schools not currently on the Boarding School Database).

London: Victory Services Club

Experience the inclusive camaraderie of the Victory Services Club. It is the only military members' club in London open to all ranks and all services of the UK Armed Forces, NATO and the Commonwealth and their families. 

Membership to the Victory Services Club is entirely free for serving personnel. For former service personnel and their immediate family, the Club offers membership at affordable and highly competitive rates.

Click HERE for more information.

Information provided by South East HIVE Hub

Gloucestershire: New countywide bus map launched

 

Gloucestershire County Council has published a new bus map showing all the main bus routes across the county, operated by all the major operators.

It allows residents and visitors to see, at a glance, where the main bus routes go, where rail stations are located, and how services connect — making it easier to plan journeys.

Please click here to access the new map online

Information provided by Lyneham HIVE

Catterick: Veterans Coffee Morning every Monday

 Information provided by North HIVE Hub