Back in June 2018, I walked into the centre of a stadium in the USA with an audience of more than 30,000 people shouting and cheering. I was part of Team UK, 40 injured service personnel participating in the USA Warrior Games, the precursor to the Invictus Games. A few months earlier, I’d been medically discharged from the RAF due to a severely injured right arm and although I’d found meaningful employment, I was very much still recovering from the physical and mental effects of injury. I got a great deal from the people I met and the experience I gained through the Warrior Games, which has helped me wrestle back the control of my future.
Having experienced so much kindness, support and where needed, brutal honesty, I was in a good place to start employment with the RAF Benevolent Fund as a Social Engagement Worker (SEW) at RAF Honington. The job entails working with serving personnel and their partners to make the most of social opportunities through supported participation in clubs, sports and numerous other activities. Knowing that we all have some nervousness when starting something new, the SEW is there to help smooth this journey through making connections, finding out the correct information and supporting those first few sessions.
With the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, I’ve been asked to support a number of initiatives to build community and aid those who have become lonely and/or isolated, for which I’ll detail three of the most prominent.
The first was as a volunteer Telephone Friendship Group facilitator, where for an hour a week, a group of RAF Veterans, Partners and Widows, come together on the phone for a chat. The very first week, everyone was nervous including me, but following introductions, the conversation flowed with good films to watch, funny career stories and what’s for dinner discussed, the hour was suddenly up. Many weeks on and the group no longer feel isolated, chat with the respect of friends and are thriving.
My second was to speak with beneficiaries of the RAF Benevolent Fund, to ensure they were keeping well during the lockdown. Having spoken with more than 150 individuals, most were faring well but a few needed food deliveries organised, urgent house repairs coordinated and in one case, a car moved so that a wheelie bin didn’t need dragging through the house. Some of these people suddenly saw their face-to-face interactions with friends, neighbours and family stop overnight causing feelings of isolation and loneliness. For these people, my colleagues and I now give them a weekly ‘Check and Chat’ call to see they are doing ok and to chew the fat. It is an incredibly humbling experience to talk about their amazing lives, their RAF Service and how they’ve overcome the challenges in their lives.
My third was to provide a virtual quiz for the RAF Honington community, ranging from individuals in barrack blocks, to those in local housing military houses and dispersed families across the country. Having been on the participant side of numerous quizzes in my time, I’ve only facilitated a few but never with the constraints of time, technology, a mixed age range and not being in a pub! I’ve learnt a huge amount about what works and what doesn’t, and now deliver a 30-minute quiz every Tuesday evening to the RAF Honington Community wherever they may be.
David Rose is our Social Engagement Worker employed by the RAF Benevolent Fund to support RAF personnel and their families to make the most of their time at RAF Honington. Station personnel can contact him via Email at [email protected]
