Fund receives £91K grant to support RAF Lossiemouth children

The RAF Benevolent Fund has been awarded a grant of £91,000 to support children living at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.

The three-year grant was awarded by the National Lottery Community Fund through its Young Start programme, which aims to help children and young people aged between eight and 24 improve their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing, establish greater connections with the wider community, and access new skills and training opportunities.

The grant will be used to support provision of Airplay at RAF Lossiemouth, the Fund's flagship youth support programme for children and teens aged eight to 18. A team of eight experienced youth workers head up the station’s Airplay team, providing four weekly sessions and a safe space where children can join together, have fun, learn new skills and receive much-needed support as they mitigate the challenges of growing up as part of a military family.

Run by National Lottery Community Fund Scotland for the Scottish Government, Young Start awards money from dormant bank and building society accounts that have seen no customer-initiated activity for at least 15 years. The money supports a range of projects that help young people ages eight to 24 years old reach their full potential.

Gavin Davey, Area Director for Scotland, Northern Ireland, and NE England at the RAF Benevolent Fund, said: “I’d like to extend my greatest thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund for awarding this generous grant which will help us continue supporting young people at RAF Lossiemouth through our Airplay programme.

“Previous research conducted by the Fund highlighted the unique challenges faced by the children of parents serving in the RAF, including emotional upheaval from frequent relocations and anxieties around deployments. Airplay is a fantastic resource for children providing stability, continuity, and support to tackle these issues.”

For more information about how the Fund can help RAF veterans and their partners or widows, please visit rafbf.org/veterans.