Helplines Awareness Day: Q&A with Fund Welfare Navigator Lindsay Hutton

With Helpline Awareness Day taking place on 23 February, we spoke with Lindsay Hutton, who is the Welfare Navigator Manager at the RAF Benevolent Fund. She provides her answers on what her role involves, the support the Fund provides members of the RAF Family, and how to get in touch if you need assistance.

What does your role as a Welfare Navigator involve?

The Welfare Navigator team are the main point of contact into the Fund for all welfare enquiries. We take enquiries by telephone, web chat, email and through our website. We then triage all enquiries to direct them to our internal services – which could be Advocacy, Benefits, our Listening and Counselling Service or Community Engagement Support. For enquiries to be referred on for Case Work, we typically have a more in-depth conversation to understand the individual’s needs and refer them mostly to our own Welfare Support Executives or to external charities. For people who do not meet our eligibility, we signpost to other services and support available.

What led you to your career as a Welfare Navigator?

I have family connections to the Military – both the RAF and Army, so it has always been part of my life. I previously worked for Help for Heroes and therefore worked with a lot of RAF personnel. It was there I was approached by a Fund ambassador, who encouraged me to apply for the new role at the Fund, thinking I would be a very good fit. I am eternally grateful to him because I love my job here.

Who do you typically help?

We help all members of the RAF Family, including veterans, serving personnel and their families. Although we are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from serving personnel at the moment, we typically get slightly more from veterans. I encourage all members of the RAF Family to get in touch if you need to though!

What sort of advice do you provide people?

The team have a large knowledge base of all the support that is available through the Fund and the eligibility criteria required, so we can advise on what support we may be able to offer. We also signpost to other charities if the enquiry something that we cannot help with. Each Welfare Navigator brings additional knowledge to the role from previous jobs and experiences which enhances the knowledge of the whole team when shared.

We help by being there at the start of people’s journeys when they’re looking for support. We help individuals who need it at the most and at a time that they need it the most. We do it with compassion and empathy whilst being completely non-judgemental.

We also often draw on our safeguarding training as this is becoming an ever-increasing part of our role, ensuring we are well equipped for conversations with people who may be experiencing mental health issues and suicidal thoughts.

Why is it important for people to reach out if they think they might need support?

The support the Fund offers can be life changing – we see and hear this every day. We help provide personalised support to meet the individual’s needs, and it can improve lives so much. People who have dedicated their lives to serving our country should be given the support if they require it, and I’m grateful I can help make that happen. If we can’t help someone, we probably know of someone who can.

What are some of the highlights of your role?

Being one of the first Welfare Navigators in a brand-new role was exciting – I don’t think any of us could envisage how our roles would evolve but we have learnt so much and we now reach so many people. I love that I’m there at the beginning of our beneficiaries’ journeys and giving something back to people who truly deserve it. We get to speak to some interesting people and hear wonderful stories.

I also work with a fantastic team who are great to work with – seeing them grow and evolve is definitely a highlight.

You can speak with our Welfare Navigators by calling 0300 102 1919.