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HUNDREDS OF BRITISH SERVICEMEN TO RECEIVE MEDALS

Hundreds more British servicemen and women will receive medals, under new plans announced today by the MoD.

At present, members of the Armed Forces who serve for 30 continuous days qualify for Iraq and Afghanistan campaign medals. Following a review, those who have served for an aggregate period of 45 days will also now be eligible. These changes will be backdated to the start of both operations.

The Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, Andrew Robathan, said:
"I am pleased to be able to announce these changes, which will mean that hundreds of brave personnel who have served in the most dangerous of circumstances will now receive the recognition they deserve."

Examples of service personnel who could now be eligible include members of the Aeromedical Evacuation Teams who accompany injured patients back to the UK.

Under the new plans, personnel who deploy for short periods of time, will be allowed to build up accrued days, to achieve an aggregate qualifying period of 45 days service.

These changes have been approved by Her Majesty The Queen following recommendations by military Chiefs of Staff.

Partnerships and Working with Consular Services and other Welfare Providers

The RAF Association Branches here in Spain, and also other Welfare providers rely very heavily on the services of the British Consulates, more specifically the Pensions, Benefits and Healthcare Team, to keep us up to date on the many aspects of support available to our customers. In recent years there has been established an official "Partnership" between the British Embassy and its Consulates, and the Royal British Legion and Age Concern España. One visible activity you will have seen has been the production of a "Partners Newsletter", published from the Consulate in Malaga. There have been other benefits to the Partners such as direct links on Consulate Websites to these organisations. With some effort we have managed to get a link to RAFA and our Branch on the Malaga Website under "see also" even though this is officially available only to Partners. We in RAFA Benalmádena Branch considered that our organisation should also try to become an official Partner, and we initiated moves with our Headquarters in UK to see how we, RAFA, stood and if it was possible to become Partners.

Having initiated the moves at the May RAFA European Area Conference, and following the presentation of a long paper, the ball was passed back to us by our Overseas Director to follow through with the Consulate/Embassy. We wrote to the British Consulate in Malaga who passed our enquiry to the British Embassy in Madrid.

We had a long telephone discussion with the Age Concern España Officer who is resident at the Embassy and responsible for the "Partnership". Our enquiry was met with great interest and we were told that the organisation was delighted at our interest.

Age Concern España then made contact with the RAFA Overseas Director and discussions were held. Exactly what transpired we are not sure but several things have been reported back.

Firstly, RAFA HQ have advised that to become Full Partners there has to be a full-time, paid, Official based in Spain, similar to the RBL and Age Concern España, although our information was that this was not necessarily the case. So, on that basis we cannot become "Partners". It would seem that the trail ends and we will only waste time and effort in pursuing the matter further.

However, secondly, all is not lost. During our discussions with Madrid we were advised of a new organisation being set up here in Spain to try to pull ALL Welfare providers together and to provide one voice to both the UK and Spanish Governments and departments. This new organisation is to be called "Accion Social" and should be established in September this year. Due to our actions we, RAFA, will become full members of this new organisation, hopefully together with The RAF Benevolent Fund, SAAFA and others, each having an equal voice. This is actually better than the "Partners" arrangement and is NOT dependent on paid officials being employed in Spain. We, RAFA Benalmádena Branch, will continue to keep in contact with all involved in the setting up of this new organisation and promise to keep you all informed of its progress. We are hoping to have a representative on the team, but this may be handled in UK. Time will tell. One thing is certain, had we not pressed for Partnerships it is doubtful that we would have heard of the new setup until it was too late

A long and difficult path but it looks like it was worth it.

Jack Griggs
Hon.Secretary
RAFA Benalmádena Branch 1357

30 July 2010

WINGS WEEK
More Volunteers Needed

This year for Wings Week we are concentrating collections at Iceland in Mijas Costa. The Airport collection has been dropped for this year due to all the changes there.

We urgently need more collectors for Iceland. We will be manning the store from 1000 to 1600 for the week 11th to 18th September. This collection point is easier than the airport as parking is available and some of the collection can be done sitting down. Iceland also have a coffee shop. We are hoping to have a display point with leaflets and RAF merchandise on, plus there will be lots of posters all round. All tills will have collecting tins which require regular emptying.

The schedule is being drawn up so if you can help, please contact either Jack or Reg on 952 484 117 or 952 567412, or come to The Galaxy Bar for details at 1400 hrs on the 16th August after our committee meeting. If you can spare a few hours please contact us and volunteer for this important 70th Anniversary collection.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE REPORTS

The abridged report from the May Annual Conference is now available for download.
Bill Dixon has written a report which is also available for download.

A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Dear All,

I have been asked to call for volunteers to assist the Welfare Team. Initially this would involve accompanying a Team member on visits to cases and hopefully leading to joining the Team. For those who chose to go further, there is full training available leading to RAFA accreditation. If you are interested and can spare some time then first of all please contact me.

Jack Griggs

RAFA BENALMÁDENA PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER

We are very pleased to announce that new member Georgina Young has volunteered her services as our Public Relations Officer. Georgina was formally co-opted to the Branch Committee today (21st June) and is already suggesting new ideas to promote the branch. We welcome her with open arms and wish her the very best in this post.

OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATION FOR THE SEPTEMBER 11TH BATTLE OF BRITAIN DINNER DANCE

Jack has negotiated overnight accommodation at Sol Andalusi for the night of the September 11th Battle of Britain Dinner Dance at a price of €69 per couple including breakfast, subject to a minimum of 5 bookings. It may come down if we get more than 5 bookings. Reservations can be made via the Secretary, or if you wish, you can book direct with the resort but must quote "The RAFA Dinner" to get the discount. Please book early to avoid disappointment

CONSULATE NEWSLETTER ON HEALTH AND BENEFITS

Partners Newsletter a monthly Newsletter from the Pension Benefit and Healthcare Team based at the British Consulate in Malaga. The newsletter can be downloaded from our Newsletters page. This will hopefully be a monthly newsletter.