RAF charity send gifts to honour Christmas staff in Lincolnshire

The Royal Air Forces Association, the charity that supports the RAF community, is distributing the gifts to 23 UK and overseas RAF stations.

This is to remind workers that their efforts are deeply valued and appreciated.

RAF Association wellbeing services officer, Cleo Whitehead, said this would be the charity’s biggest-ever distribution of Christmas parcels.

She said: “What began as a mainly UK-focused project in 2019, when 484 boxes were distributed, has rapidly expanded to now reach over 1,200 men and women.

“The RAF is here for us all year round whenever we need them.

“The parcels are just a small way in which we can recognise and say thank you to all those who are on duty at home and abroad this Christmas.”

The association is one of the oldest military charities with a 90-year history of support to the RAF community.

With more than 300 branches across the world, the membership of the group is continually thriving to create a positive impact.

For several years, the charity has championed the simple belief that no member of the RAF should be left without the help and support they need.

Personnel at RAF Scampton, Coningsby, Cranwell, Digby, and Waddington in Lincolnshire will receive hampers containing biscuits, jams, stationery and other treats.

Parcels will also go to personnel in Oxfordshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, North-East Scotland, Wiltshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Anglesey, Cambridgeshire, Middlesex and Edinburgh.

And flights from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, will transport more than 130 parcels to personnel working in Cyprus and other overseas locations.

Flight Sergeant Jane Corban, based in Community Support at RAF Brize Norton, said: “Many men and women will be working away from home, in some cases very far from home, this Christmas Day.

“These parcels will, I’m sure, bring them some welcome festive cheer.”