Togetherall: Self Compassion

                                                       

Embrace the power of self-compassion

Dive into @Togetherall’s series of self-compassion tips and discover the support waiting for you on Togetherall. Because you deserve kindness, especially from yourself.

Join the Togetherall community today for FREE at https://togetherall.com/en-gb/mental-health-support-for-all-uk-armed-forces-veterans/

Family Action Job Opportunity: Facilitators - Remote / Occasional Community Work

                                                 

The Family Action Parenting Together For Children Team are recruiting Facilitators based in Surrey, Sussex, South & West Yorkshire, Liverpool & Cheshire – mainly remote work with occasional community based work (only 1-2 times a year) – for more information please see:

Parenting Programme Facilitators, Planning Together for Children – Remote based in Sussex, Surrey, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Liverpool or Cheshire - Family Action (family-action.org.uk)

Facilitators can choose their hours and deliver sessions around any existing commitments, ideal for a second job or someone returning to work after a break – working daytime, evening time, school hours and / or weekends.

Trust launches Armed Forces Covenant Fund: Hidden Voices programme for 2024/25

                                    

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (the Trust) has launched a further Covenant Fund programme under its exciting three-year Funding Framework.

The Hidden Voices programme is now open for applications for grants of up £20,000 for projects that will provide accessible mental health and wellbeing services for under-represented serving Armed Forces personnel, Reservists, Veteran and families.

What is the Hidden Voices programme all about?

The Trust ran a public consultation in 2023, which identified that one of the key areas to focus on was ‘reducing isolation and loneliness for Armed Forces communities.’ This programme will enable and deliver accessible mental health and wellbeing support, as well as to identify known and unknown gaps in service provision. The consultation findings are available to read on The Trust website.

NHS England Guidance for Service Parents: Registering a child with an NHS GP and use of the NHS App

                                                        

 Registering a child with an NHS GP and use of the NHS APP

1. Registration

There are safeguarding aspects to registering children without a parent, but it is not a reason for refusal.

Ideally, an adult with parental responsibility should normally be registered at the practice with the child where the ID of the adult can be matched to the child’s birth certificate details.

However, one of the exemptions to this is where both parents serve in the armed forces and are registered with an armed forces GP.

Serve & Protect Credit Union - Upcoming Webinars and 'Lunch & Learn' Sessions starting in September 2024

                                  

From September, Serve & Protect Credit Union are launching 'Lunch and Learns' with the following topics:​

• Managing the Cost of Living
• Budgeting and Spending
• Boosting your Credit Score
• What Lenders are looking for

​The link to sign up for these, plus other webinars throughout July and August, is here:
Webinars - Serve & Protect (serveandprotectcu.co.uk)

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Bulk Recruitment across Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight

                                                   

As the UKs largest public service department, DWP are responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy, transacting around £212 billion in payments each year, operating out of more than 800 locations with over 90,000 employees.

Recruitment is now taking place for the following with a closing date of 6th August 2024:

Location: Chippenham, Devizes, Lymington, Ryde, Salisbury, Swindon
Role: Work Coach
Number of roles: 70

For more information and to apply, please click HERE​

Reserves Continuous Attitude Survey 2024: Results Published

                                                                

Findings from the Reserves Continuous Attitude Survey (ResCAS 2024) have been published on GOV.UK: ResCAS 2024 publication.

What is RESCAS? 
ResCAS is MOD’s annual survey which gathers information on the attitudes and experiences of Volunteer Reservists across the Tri-Services.

2024 Survey Results
This year, a total of 4,656 Reservists completed ResCAS.

The survey found 70% of Volunteer Reserves are satisfied with life in the Reserve in general, and 89% are proud to serve in the Service. Satisfaction with pay was 43% and the annual bounty was 63%. Overall, there has been a decreasing trend in satisfaction with pay and the annual bounty since 2021.

The top 3 reasons cited by Reservists for joining the Reserve Service were; to serve their country (64%), for the challenge (59%), and for personal development (58%).

For further results, please see the publication report: ResCAS 2024 publication.

These include perceptions on training, life in the Reserves, career progression and family support. Queries can be sent to: 

people-strat-cdpregroup@mod.gov.uk

Naples Newsletter July 3

Click here for the latest newsletter

Naples Newsletter July 3 

Don’t miss out on Wraparound Childcare in the new autumn term. Are you eligible to claim WAC funding?

 Don’t miss out on Wraparound Childcare in the new autumn term.

Are you eligible to claim WAC funding? Click the link to find out.

Join more than 5000 Service families who are currently benefitting from claiming up to £3,400, per child per year, of before and after school childcare costs.

What is Wraparound Childcare (WAC)?

The 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 in receipt of disability allowances), who are in full time education in school or being home educated in the UK. Over 7000 Service children's before and after school childcare is currently being funded by WAC.

Wraparound childcare is also known as ‘Out of School care’ in Wales and ‘School Age Childcare’ in Scotland.

What is new for autumn term 2024?

The WAC capped hourly rates, which are set by region and provider type, have been updated for the 2024/25 academic year. The capped hourly rates may have gone up or down and may affect the amount of funding you can claim.

To find out if this affects your claims, check the updated rates in DIN2022DIN01-079 - Wraparound Childcare from the start of the autumn term. The DIN is available on Defnet and Defence Connect

 How do I register for the new academic year?

* Complete the WAC registration within JPA. This can be done once the child has turned 4-years-old, started full time education (including home education) and has an active Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account (active means that you receive the 20% top up from HMRC when you deposit funds into the account). 

Please note, all WAC claims submitted must have first been paid via an active TFC account.

* If you have already registered your child(ren) for WAC within JPA, you do not need to re-register in autumn term, however any changes in your JPA record may result in a WAC de-registration. If this happens, so long as eligibility criteria is still met, you will need to update your WAC record to continue to claim the funding.

Service personnel: Please note that JPA will be down 18th October – 4th November 2024. No JPA functions will be available, including WAC registrations and claims.

Further information, guidance and support...

Visit the Defence Childcare Information Page on Defnet and Defence Connect where you can find the DIN, FAQs, Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) information and links to Step-by-Step Guides on registering and claiming WAC.

Families can visit Discover my Benefits Army, RAF, Navy or Marines for more information.

If you have any questions, contact the WAC team at:

PEOPLE-AFFS-WAC-FRO-mailbox@mod.gov.uk

New awards provide educational support for Service children

                                        

New awards provide educational support for Service children

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (the Trust) has announced 21 new awards in the latest round of the Service Pupil Support Programme!

Worth £1.3 million, these projects are set to make a real difference to school-aged Service children across the UK - improving their educational pathways and helping to address the challenges they can face.

Supporting Service pupils across the UK

Part of the MOD’s Armed Forces Families Fund, the Service Pupil Support Programme supports projects which focus on pupils from currently serving families and support them along their educational pathways. The projects supported in this funding round address gaps in educational attainment, support Service pupils with additional needs, and support small cohorts of Service pupils within educational settings.