Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre joins RAF charity's welfare network

Air station heritage centre chairman Stuart Archibald is pictured with Gavin Davey from the RAF Benevolent Fund.Air station heritage centre chairman Stuart Archibald is pictured with Gavin Davey from the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Air station heritage centre chairman Stuart Archibald is pictured with Gavin Davey from the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre has strengthened its historical links to the RAF by hosting a new welfare hub run by the service’s learing charity.

The centre is the venue for the RAF Benevolent Fund’s fourth veteran’s welfare which, located in its library, will provide information on the Fund’s welfare support services which are available to members of the RAF family, including veterans and their relatives.

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Montrose Air Station Heritage Museum, sited on Great Britain’s oldest operational airfield, joins a network which includes The Scottish Deer Centre in Fife, Morayvia Aircraft Museum in Forres and the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum.

Founded in 1919 by Lord Trenchard, former Chief of the Air Staff, the RAF Benevolent Fund provides financial, emotional, and practical assistance to serving and retired personnel, which includes grants to help with financial difficulty, mental health support, Airplay youth clubs, and more.

Support is lifelong and any requests for assistance are considered, big or small, providing a tailor-made approach to each individual situation.

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It also maintains and preserves both the RAF Memorial and RAF Bomber Command Memorial in London on behalf of the nation. One of the charity’s original roles was to raise funds for a memorial for airmen who died in the First World War.

The organisation receives no routine government funding and relies on donations from the general public.

Gavin Davey, director for Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Northeast England, said: “We are delighted to have opened our fourth Veteran’s Welfare Hub in Scotland.

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"Our hubs exist to inform visitors of the museum about the help available to RAF veterans and their families, enabling them, whether a veteran or not, to spread the word about the RAF Benevolent Fund to their families, and local community, with hopes to reach more RAF veterans in need across Scotland.”

To find out more about how the Fund could help you or a fellow RAF veteran and their family, telephone 0300 102 1919 or via its website at www.rafbf.org.