RBLI Lifeworks: Employment Support for Families via Skype

The RBLI LifeWorks team is running Skype info sessions each Thursday at 12:00 for military families. Employability coaches will be chatting about what LifeWorks Families can do to help Military Families with their employability skills and their search and move into work.

You'll be able to chat with the coaches and get support with any aspect of your employability. Its very informal and relaxed.

If you'd like to join in the sessions just drop us an email with your Skype details and we'll add you onto the call.

You can email us at lifeWorks@rbli.co.uk or give us a call on 0800 319 6844 and we'll be happy to help.

ISB Adult Learning Courses

 

blurt - Increasing Awareness and Understanding of Depression

11 WAYS WE CAN MANAGE OUR ANXIETY WHEN (WE’RE) IN PUBLIC

Being in public can make it much harder to manage our levels of anxiety even for those of us who’ve struggled with anxiety for a long time and have developed some coping strategies to help us to manage the way we feel.

When we’re in public, not only are we likely to have higher levels of anxiety due to being around more people and potentially in less-familiar places, but we might also find that we can’t use some of our existing coping strategies because we’re not able to control our environment to the same extent that we can at home. We’re also less likely to have things that we can use to distract ourselves.

Please click HERE for more information

Financial Top Tips For Service Personnel

Highlighting common difficulties faced by the services’ mobile population in acquiring credit and offers advice on how to overcome these.

Please click HERE for information

Virtual Army Careers Centres

For information please click HERE

SSAFA: Gurkha Services

Gurkha Services provide tailored support for Gurkha veterans and their families who have settled in the UK and works collaboratively with other Gurkha specific organisations such as the Gurkha Welfare Trust, the Gurkha Brigade Association, the Army Welfare Service, Gurkha communities and others.

SSAFA's Gurkha services are available to all serving and veteran members of the Brigade of Gurkhas, and their families. We provide local SSAFA volunteers with up to date information, awareness and translation services, to ensure the Gurkha community have the same support opportunities as any other member of the Armed Forces community.

SSAFA's Gurkha services are for people who have served in the Brigade of Gurkhas or are the immediate family of someone who served.

For more information visit https://www.ssafa.org.uk/get-help/gurkha-services

Student Guide To Appeals And Malpractice Or Maladministration Complaints: Summer 2020

Exams and assessments were cancelled this year due to coronavirus (COVID-19) but most students will still receive their grades in time to move on to further study or employment. You may still be able to do this even if your grade isn’t what you wanted.

Take a look at our student guide to find out more about how qualifications are being graded this year, autumn exams and the arrangements for appeals. You may also find it helpful to watch our video for further information on how your qualification has been graded. You will see from this information that your teachers have worked hard to agree your centre assessment grade(s) – their professional judgement of the grade(s) you would likely have received had your exams taken place – and your position in the rank order. We asked schools and colleges to use a range of evidence when making these judgements. Where a disabled student would have had a reasonable adjustment for their exams, centres were asked to take account of the student’s likely achievement with this adjustment in place. Schools and colleges are required to comply with equality legislation, another safeguard in the process used this year. These judgements formed the basis of the centre assessment grade(s) and rank order information that your school or college submitted to the exam board for each of your subjects. To make sure standards are aligned across schools and colleges, all grades were standardised by exam boards, using a model developed by Ofqual.

PCMF - Hospital Kits

Parents wishing to stay overnight in hospital with their child can request a bedding kit from the PCMF Hospital Liaison Officers (HLOs). The kit comprises an Army camp cot, a mattress and pillow.

HLO Beth Ulat said: ‘’Parents who’d like to stay overnight with their child in KB Hospital can request a bedding kit from the HLO, as we carry them in our car boots. They are fairly basic and those wishing to stay should bring a sheet or blanket with them, as these are not supplied.

‘’In some circumstances, a spouse may be able to stay with their wife or husband, but that depends on the type of ward they are in. Unfortunately, this applies to KB Hospital only.’’

Beth added: ‘’HLOs will always attend when someone is being admitted into hospital for the first time to assist with the admission process. We will also update the Duty Nurse with any information about the visit. Patients who have attended hospital before and are familiar with the process may not require our assistance.

‘’If, however, you go directly to A&E at KB Hospital without seeing anyone from the PCMF, you should always ring the Duty Nurse to let them know you are going to the hospital and they will contact the Duty HLO, if necessary. 

‘’Once discharged from hospital care, you should arrange an appointment at the PCMF.’’

Pictured: HLOs Beth Ulat, left, and Ann Abdullah with one of the hospital kits. A portable DVD player is also available.

SSAFA Community Projects

Out here in Brunei, our SSAFA team is always busy thinking of ways to help the community. Here are just some of the new ways SSAFA are supporting BFB:

Some of our fitness equipment has been sent to the personnel and families currently in isolation. We want to support these individuals in this challenging situation by providing them with a way to keep fit and use their time while they spend time in various isolation centres within Brunei.

SSAFA have recently purchased a dryer for the Mumong laundry room to help those families who have just arrived in Brunei or are soon to leave. Now you can take a clean, dry bag of laundry home without worrying about monkeys on your washing line

If anyone needs access to the laundry room contact SSAFA or HIVE

Boarding School Finder

DCYP have released the new boarding school finder website which provides information about schools on the accredited schools database. The database is a list of schools available to families when applying for Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA). Parents can now search for boarding schools (both state and independent) using search terms such a location, age range and explicit discounts. The design of the website was shaped by a number of focus groups help by DCYP with personnel from all the services. DCYP would like to thank those personnel that took part in these workshops in developing this website. The website is available at https://boardingschoolfinder.mod.uk or www.bsf.mod.uk. It should be noted that the site works on Google Chrome and mobile devices rather than MODNET explorer.

If you are considering Boarding school for your child(ren), you should seek advice about your eligibility to claim the allowance (CEA) from your Unit HR and chain of Command. You can request a Boarding Schools Pack from The Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS) which gives comprehensive information and advice. This advice is also available on the website: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/the-childrens-education-advisory-service-ceas . Most importantly, you should read the regulations in JSP 752 very carefully to ensure you fully understand the implications of claiming the allowance. Advice and guidance regarding children’s education is available from CEAS: DCYP-CEAS-Enquiries@mod.gov.uk , with issues regarding claims and eligibility you should approach your Unit HR in the first instance.

The Warrior Programme

For more information please email: info@warriorprogramme.org.uk

Teen Respect

Click on the image to enlarge

UK Updated Guidance on Self Isolation

Today the Chief Medical Officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have issued updated advice on the self-isolation period for symptomatic individuals or those with a positive test result increasing from 7 days to 10 days.

Please click HERE for more information

Mental Resilience In The Time Of COVID-19

In the Army, physical strength is important – but it’s only part of the story. Mental resilience is a person's ability to respond effectively to stress, pressure, risk and adversity, all of which you’ll face in your Army career. Mental Resilience Training (MRT) is the development of a soldier's psychological capability and capacity to respond effectively to the circumstances with which they are faced.

Click here for further information on Mental Resilience Training (MRT).