Charlotte Barmby, who came to talk to us about the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, is herself a daughter of two RAF officers. Her father was a pilot and her mother was an RAF air traffic controller. Lord Trenchard, who founded the RAF, set up the RAF Benevolent Fund in 1919, the year after the RAF itself was formed.
Charlotte told us that there are 400 military charities but only four specifically supporting the RAF:
The RAF Benevolent Fund also supports the RAF Family, consisting of current and retired members of the RAF, including those who served in the RAF on National Service, and their families. This “Family” has some 1,560,000 members, of which 1,460,000 are retired RAF personnel and their family members and 100,000 are current RAF personnel and their families. The people the RAF Benevolent Fund supports are spread over 52 countries.
The projects the Benevolent Fund arranges or supports include: