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Listening and counselling service

This confidential service supports people dealing with a range of issues, including bereavement, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, stress and loneliness. 

Counselling

Any member of the RAF Family can refer themselves by calling our Wellbeing Services helpline on 0300 222 5703 or emailing support@rafbf.org.uk. Our helpline is open Monday - Friday 09:30 - 15:30. Outside these hours please either leave a voicemail or email us. We will endeavor to respond within five working days. 

Support is available for a range of difficulties, including:

  • Anxiety and/or depression
  • Low mood and stress
  • Low self-esteem
  • Loneliness and isolation
  • Struggling with sleep
  • Emotional stress felt due to caring for a loved one
  • Bereavement (we also provide financial assistance towards funeral payment)
  • Problem gambling

Our service includes:

  • A dedicated helpline and email providing information on the service and useful resources.
  • Therapy sessions delivered through our specialist partner organisations.
  • Free membership to Headspace, a digital mindfulness tool.

Did you serve with the RAF in Afghanistan or Iraq?

We’re working in partnership with the RAF Association to bring you Op Unite, a bespoke package of support which exists to help those who served on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Find out about the support available to you, which can help you to tackle and overcome life’s challenges:

  • Our Listening and Counselling Service offers RAF veterans who served in Op Herrick and Op Telic the opportunity to talk things through with a professional trained counsellor. Find out more
     
  • The RAF Association’s Finding It Tough (FiT) programme offers RAF veterans who served in Op Herrick and Op Telic the opportunity to attend a free mental wellbeing training course. Find out more 
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Other Support 

If you are looking for support for a child or young person, please see our youth counselling service page for further information.

If you are looking for relationship support, please visit our relationship counselling and mediation page.

Quotes from people who have used our listening and counselling service

"The Fund's early and reactive support meant I didn't have to ask myself those questions for very long and slowly the darkness lifted. The listening and counselling service they provided saved my life."

Andrew

"My partner is also in the RAF and is away a lot and I was also concerned about his welfare when he was away and I was becoming more and more anxious. I started to feel overwhelmed but threw myself into work – I knew I couldn't break down there – and I began working later and later, just so as not to be home alone with my thoughts. I was offered cognitive behavioural therapy with a local therapist. I have had six sessions now and she is brilliant. She has taught me to recognise the symptoms and how to deal with them. I know I am prone to depression but I know now to ask for help when I need it."

Sally

Am I eligible for support?

View our eligibility checklist to see if you would qualify for help.