VE Day 80 – Supporting the RAF Family then, now and in the future

VE Day is a day of celebration, marking Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces. While VE and VJ Day stand as a reminder of the end of war, it was not the end of suffering and hardship for many of those who served, and for the families of those who lost their lives.

The Fund was there to help individuals and families during and in the aftermath of the Second World War. Between 1945-1950, the Fund spent nearly £3 million supporting RAF personnel and their families, including financial grants towards schooling for children who lost their fathers in battle.

In 1946, a year after the end of the Second World War, the Fund had more calls for help than it had since it was formed in 1919. The Fund assisted 31,134 individuals, including 838 grants for the education of children, most of them children of aircrew killed in war. The Fund continues to support RAF families and those bereaved today, including Jacqui Thompson, who the Fund supported following the death of her husband Gary after he was killed by an IED in Afghanistan. The Fund provided financial assistance for Jacqui and their five daughters, including grants to enable two of her daughters to go to university.

In 1947, the RAF Benevolent Fund built houses in London, Cardiff and Leicester for widows and children of RAF personnel who didn’t make it back from the war, and for badly injured RAF personnel who returned, ensuring the houses were adapted for their needs. Today, the Fund continues to provide housing and adaptions for RAF personnel, veterans and their families, including Stacey Mitchell, who moved into a Fund Housing Trust property in October 2022 following the amputation of her leg. Stacey said: “My house has given me the independence I needed.”

In post-war Britain, the national debt had risen from £760 million to £3,500 million, with the cost of living increasing by around 30%. Wartime rationing had to be continued due to shortages of food and raw materials. Food and clothing were getting more expensive, while wages lagged behind, making it difficult for many to afford basic necessities. The RAF Benevolent Fund was there for the RAF Family providing financial assistance following the Second World War. Eighty years later, the Fund still provides financial assistance for day-to-day costs amidst another cost-of-living crisis. In 2023, the Fund supported Lance Corporal Shameem Kabir with a one-off grant of £800 to help him and his family get back on their feet while his wife was on maternity leave.

Since 2022, more than 112,000 members of the RAF Family have benefitted from the Fund’s support, of which nearly 72,500 were serving personnel and their families. Like it has for over a century, the Fund continues to be there for all members of the RAF Family now and in the future, whenever it is needed.