In 2010 the RAF Association introduced ‘Miles More Minutes’. Created especially for serving RAF personnel, the project provides those who are serving overseas with more free telephone talk time to speak to their loved ones.
For those who are deployed in theatres such as Afghanistan, maintaining links with family is essential. For security reasons, however, personnel can only use special welfare telephone lines and phone cards. Currently, serving personnel are allocated just four and a half minutes of talk time per day on a secure MOD line.
Miles More Minutes is an initiative that provides RAF personnel with phone cards that allow them to call home more often. Just £20 can provide one person with eight extra minutes a day for two weeks to call home – a massive boost to the morale of serving personnel and great comfort for their loved ones back home.
Whilst serving with Air Traffic Control in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, Squadron Leader Alan Huyton and his Squadron received some of our phone cards.
He said: “The RAF Association does so much good every day for so many people. The voluntary work and collections in the streets really make a difference to the lives and welfare of personnel both at home and abroad. From all of us at Bastion ATC, thank you.”
“Just being remembered by someone other than family members gives such a boost to the men and women working here, we are all very grateful for the generosity and thought.”
Last Christmas, the RAF Association sent another 3,000 Miles More Minutes telephone cards out to Afghanistan to support serving personnel.
The new cards, funded by Association members, branches and donations from members of the public, provided an additional 60,000 minutes of precious telephone time for personnel to talk to their loved ones back home – and not just for Christmas. Instead of a monetary value, each has a time value of 20 minutes which can be used at any time during 2012.
Miles More Minutes really does make a difference. Flight Lieutenant Stu Hickin, who received last year’s Miles More Minutes card, told us: “When I first arrived in theatre, we got off the plane, were put into transit accommodation for the night and issued an MOD Paradigm card. Most of us were hoping to use these so we could let our loved ones know they had arrived in theatre safely, but the cards weren’t activated for three or four days.
“Luckily, before I departed Valley, I was given an RAF Association phone card to allow me to let my loved ones know that I was here safely. And I actually had a decent amount of conversation instead of it being just a two second thing”.
Watch our Mile More Minutes video here.
If you’d like to help, you can support projects including Miles More Minutes by making a donation here.
If you’re in the RAF and would like to benefit from the Miles More Minutes campaign, you can do so here.
Registered Charity 226686 (England & Wales) - SC037673 (Scotland)
© Copyright The RAF Association 2012
