A number of RAF personnel and their families have turned to food banks as the cost of living continues to bite, it’s been revealed.
Some are no longer able to afford the subsidised meals at their mess, others haven’t had the funds to cover travel home to see family, while one single mum said she went four days without hot food as she spent the last of her money on baby formula.
Meanwhile a charity said the number of enquiries they’d received from or on behalf of servicemen and women needing financial support had more than doubled over 12 months.
The concerning situation was revealed by Sky News, who say they have seen internal RAF documents and interviewed military sources and charities.
Although the documents referred specifically to the RAF, the news provider said sources within the Army and Navy said personnel were struggling there too.
The news might come as a surprise to many as the Armed Forces offer staff a number of benefits, including subsidised meals and housing, childcare and fuel grants to attract and retain talent.
But it comes at a time of soaring costs hitting a huge number of households across the country.
The report, put together by military chaplains and covering the whole of the RAF, included an anonymous quote that read: ‘The food bank is popular.’
A footnote qualifying this warned: ‘Food bank use is reported across a majority of units, but nowhere is yet reporting widespread use.’
It said currently they estimated there were ‘single figures per unit of families utilising food banks’.
Airbases RAF Benson in South Oxfordshire and RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire ‘are reporting the highest use of food banks’, the report said.
At RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire a food bank was set up by a member of the forces to help non-military families in the local community, but according to a source it is now being used ‘extensively’ by struggling servicemen and women.
Asked how personnel felt about using the food bank, which is run by a Christian group called Destiny Outreach Coningsby, the source replied: ‘Incredibly angry and frustrated that we had got to the point where service personnel had to rely on charitable agencies just to exist.’
The chaplaincy report also states there’s a ‘sense of looming discontent’ among service personnel having to fill in for striking public sector workers wanting better wages when they themselves are not allowed to strike.
Charity RAF Benevolent fund said they received 539 enquiries last year about financial support for personnel compared with less than half that number in 2021.
When questioned about the food bank at RAF Coningsby, an RAF spokesperson told Metro: ‘The food bank at RAF Coningsby was set up as part of an initiative to support the local community, reflecting current pressure across society.’
In regards to support available to members of the RAF struggling financially it added: ‘For service personnel the RAF offers a range of support, such as welfare officers who can offer financial advice and access to fuel grants and hardship funds provided by the RAF and supporting charities and associations.
‘More widely defence has created a comprehensive package of support that includes the biggest pay increase in 20 years, freezing daily food costs, providing accommodation subsidies and saving up to £3,400 per child per year by extending wraparound childcare.’
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