The RAF Association Wings Appeal - Miles More Minutes Campaign
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Support from home is an essential boost to the morale of our Armed Forces when they are away overseas facing the challenges of an operational environment. The RAF Association’s Miles More Minutes campaign has been created specifically in response to the desire of RAF personnel to be able to call home more frequently.
For security reasons, they can only use welfare telephone lines, accessed by special telephone cards. Just £20 could provide one person eight more minutes per day to chat with their loved ones, for two weeks. £1,000 could make Christmas happier for 50 members of the RAF facing the prospect of Christmas in a hostile place, thousands of miles away from their families.
‘Sorry Granddad, I can’t talk – I’ve got to speak to Mum.’
As a former RAF fitter back in the fifties, I can still remember what it was like to have limited contact with home. I was called up to do my National Service when I was 19 and quickly shipped out to Singapore. It was exciting – but it almost broke my heart to be away from everyone I knew.
Then, when my son Paul joined up as a chef and went to the Falklands in 1982, I got to understand what it feels like for those left at home.
Now my grandson Wayne is a RAF Police dog handler and finds himself over in Afghanistan, my wife and I are waiting for news all over again. You would think things would be easier, but they’re not. Phone tapping and harassment of families by the Taliban mean that RAF personnel have to use specialist secure telecommunications. As a result, those serving in Afghanistan are currently allowed the equivalent of 4.5 minutes of talk time a day on the lines provided by the MOD. As you can imagine, as Wayne’s gran and granddad, most of our information is passed on from his mum and dad. 
However, with the RAF Association Wings Appeal’s Miles More Minutes Campaign, things could be very different. A £20 donation could allow an extra 8 minutes of talk time every day for two weeks. That time would mean such a lot to us all. Out in a hostile country, it’s more time for Wayne to lift his spirits, get another worry out of his head, and to speak to his gran and granddad and put our minds at rest. Most of all, it’s time for him to feel just a little closer to everyone at home…even if it is just for a few more minutes a day.
Speaking as someone who couldn’t wait to hear from home, and someone who can’t wait to speak to his grandson and tell him how proud of him I am, I know how much it means to keep in touch.
That’s why I hope you’ll be able to join me in supporting the Miles More Minutes campaign and make a huge difference to some very worried mums, dads and grandparents right now.
Peter Hubbard, Former RAF fitter
Contact Rachel Huxford, Director of Fundraising on 0116 268 8779 or rachel.huxford@rafa.org.uk for more information.
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The RAF Association Wings Appeal - Miles More Minutes Campaign
The RAF Association's Wings Appeal - Miles More Minutes Campaign Read more »
