WIREDGOV

The Chancellor and Secretary of State for Defence have recently announced that more causes and charities supporting the armed forces community are to benefit from fines levied on banks for attempting to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) benchmark. The Government has allocated £2.6 million of funds recently, bringing the total amount given to date to over £7 million.

The charities named recently will be the last to benefit from the first tranche of funding allocated, but further applications to the LIBOR Fund in support of the Armed Forces are invited with effect as of Friday 22nd March.

The Chancellor said:

“Our servicemen and women make huge sacrifices on behalf of our country. That is why it is right that those who have paid fines in our financial sector because they demonstrated the very worst values are paying to support those in our armed forces who demonstrate the very best of British values.”

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said:
“It is fitting that the Armed Forces should benefit from these fines paid by financial institutions. I am pleased that our service charities are being recognised in this way.”

The recent selected causes and charities are:

• Royal Navy & Royal Marines Children’s Fund will receive £25,000 for production of a national booklet for Service families where a member of the family has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The booklet will help families recognise, understand and take appropriate action to minimise the effects and advise on how to help children understand and deal with PTSD in their families.
• The RAF Widows’ Association will receive £5,000 to provide training for those who are the first point of contact for new widows and widowers.
• The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) will receive £207,500 to fund breaks for Service children who have additional needs and/or a disability, or who are wounded, injured or sick, allowing young people to develop their social skills and gain independence and providing respite care for Service families.
• SSAFA will also receive £547,000 to train 200 veterans and members of Forces families as Mental Health First Aid Trainers, and £350,000 for development of a minimum of 200 separate mentoring relationships offering one-to-one individual support through a volunteer mentor to wounded, injured and sick Service leavers out of Personnel Recovery and Assessment Centres.
• The National Memoriam Arboretum (NMA) will receive £625,000 to implement a programme of improvement to memorials. This programme of improvements will enable the NMA to respond to increased interest, partly as a result of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaign and the increased pressure on the existing infrastructure.
• The Army Family Federation (AFF) will receive £238,000 for the creation of an Armed Forces Covenant cell within the AFF to ensure that Army families have equitable access to provision of public services and are not disadvantaged by their military service.
• The Navy Family Federation will receive £343,500 for the creation of a regional network of Covenant Practise Experts, employing service spouses, to drive forward implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant at a local level by engagement with local authorities, NHS trusts and school governors.
• The RAF Family Federation will receive £235,000 for the creation of a network of RAF Family Federation regional representatives, working alongside the Army and Naval teams.

This follows the announcement at Budget that:

• UK4U will receive £90,000 to provide Christmas boxes to every member of the armed forces who is away on operations on Christmas Day in 2013 and 2014.
• Combat Stress will receive £2 million to recruit experienced community psychiatric nurses trained in addiction management to Combat Stress Community Outreach teams, for 3 years, to meet the needs of contacts who are unable to engage in regular NHS treatment for their mental health needs, due to problems with alcohol or drug misuse.
• Combat Stress will also receive £200,000 to implement phase two of a 24 hour telephone helpline, providing a stigma-free first approach for help with mental health issues across the UK.

The Government had previously allocated funding to:

• The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA), for funding support groups for families dealing with loss or struggling to cope with an injured loved one.
• The Felix Fund, for providing normalisation breaks for all 32 Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams expected to return from Afghanistan in the next 12 months. These breaks reunite the teams after their post-tour leave for five days and include outdoor pursuits such as rock climbing, abseiling and caving.
• Tickets for Troops, for providing free tickets to musical, sporting, entertainment and cultural events for distribution to service personnel and those who have been medically discharged.
• The now open Fisher House Project at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, for providing accommodation for military families to be close to a relative during hospitalisation.

Notes for Editors

1. The Armed Forces Covenant sets out the relationship between the nation, the state and the armed forces. It recognises that the whole nation has a moral obligation to members of the armed forces and their families and it establishes how they should expect to be treated.
2. The Government allocated £35 million to the Covenant Reference Group to support the Armed Forces Covenant. The remaining funds will be allocated over the next two years.
3. Further applications to the LIBOR Fund in support of the Armed Forces are invited with effect from tomorrow. Further information including criteria and guidance for this next tranche is available at www.gov.uk/the-armed-forces-covenant.