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4th Mechanized Brigade Headquarters & 204 Signal Squadron
Welfare Office
Families Communication and Welfare Facilities Grant
This project was designed to improve existing welfare facilities and to facilitate improved communication to theatre for wives and children from 4th Mechanized Brigade Headquarters and 204 Signals Squadron. The project enabled all wives and children to have easy free access to internet and E Bluey facilities, and enhanced the support the Welfare Office was already providing to parents when their spouses were deployed or on training.
The project also improved the families area within the Welfare Offices, which was frequently used for briefings, personal support meetings and informal community focussed events such as coffee mornings and informal get-togethers. These events help create stronger ties within the families of the Brigade and enhance the level of support to the families of deployed servicemen.
The project was the overseen by the Welfare Team of 204 Signal Squadron.
A message from Corporal Leigh Crouch, Welfare NCO...
 During 2009 4th Mechanized Brigade started their pre-deployment training in readiness for Operation Herrick 12 which was scheduled for early 2010.
As part of our preparations within the Welfare Office our focus was not solely on the soldiers who would be ultimately deploying to theatre, but also on the families that would be left at home in the UK. We needed to make
sure that we, the welfare team, and the rear party Cpl Leigh Crouch
personnel, could make life a little easier for the families
while their spouses were away.
The build up to any forthcoming tour can be a stressful time for families; pre-deployment training involves soldiers going on a whole series of exercises in a number of locations – including Canada and Kenya. Whilst these locations are ideally suited to enable soldiers to train in a realistic environment – exactly what was needed to ensure that the Brigade would be as well trained as possible for the challenges of Afghanistan and Helmand Province – it also meant soldiers being away for anything up to 5 months in total during the build up.
For the families left behind during these training exercises it can seem like their loved one is never at home, and it often feels as if the tour of duty has already started. But they also know that the 6 month tour of operational duty is still to come.
As a Welfare Team we know from experience that communication is often a big issue for families. Being able to stay in touch is very important during the training period, but is especially vital during a tour. We looked at the facilities we already had in place and recognised that we needed to improve them quickly. We decided that giving families access to a video camera was one way we could help. Our families could use it to record anything from personal messages of support which could then be sent to their loved ones in theatre, to taking videos of themselves enjoying organised welfare trips to places such as zoos and theme parks – activities which are important for the children, and which provide a welcome relief for stressed mums and dads who are left at home. These DVDs also provide a valuable and very welcome boost for the soldiers in theatre who can watch them and see that their families at home are safe and being taken care of.
Cera Mitchinson enjoys the new laptop and internet access in the Families Area, which will allow wives and children to more easily stay in regular touch with their loved ones in Afghanistan.
To further strengthen our communication lines we identified the need for a laptop with internet access, and a computer desk and chair to go with it, which would give families the ability to come into the Welfare Offices whenever they wished and be able to send E bluey’s to their loved ones in theatre.
Families would also be coming in to the Welfare Office for briefings and informal coffee mornings. Again, we could see we needed to improve our facilities in order to make it a welcoming and comforting place to be. We could see we would need a new fridge, microwave, coffee cups and mugs, plates and cutlery. Occupying the children whilst parents were at briefings was also something we needed to address. Providing the children with colouring books, easels, and crayons would mean that they could play happily and safely whilst we helped their parents with whatever problems or issues they had.
Having drawn up our list of what was needed we decided to apply for funding from The Black Rat Fund. It was very easy to apply and our application only took one week to be accepted. We greatly appreciated the cheque for £500.00 which we received, and promptly went out and put in place all those things we had planned. The difference it has made to our families area, and the kind of support we can give is tremendous.
Without our grant from the Black Rat Fund we would have struggled to purchase a lot of the equipment we required, and our families would have suffered. We’d like to say a big thank you to the Black Rat Fund for being so supportive, and for their generous grant. We would encourage the other units within the Brigade to continue to support the Fund as much as they can.
Cpl Leigh Crouch,
Welfare NCO,
4th Mechanized Brigade Headquarters and Signal Squadron
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