GIRLS and young women from military families are to profit from a joint initiative of the Girls’ Brigade and the Methodist Church that recognises the unique nature of military life.
The Girls’ Brigade has appointed a dedicated military-families employee, Hazel Adamson, who is a component of such a family. She will oversee the organising of 5 recent groups, each with as much as 30 children and young people, attached to an area church. This will provide “a protected and welcoming space to make friends and learn recent things — which is so essential when times are uncertain”, Ms Adamson says.
“We understand being a part of a military family can include constant moving, making it difficult for young people to construct a stable friendship group and grow their roots,” Dr Andrew Wood, of the Methodist Church Forces Board, says.
“As a nation, we owe an incredible debt to our armed forces personnel. One small way the Methodist Church is paying them back is to look out for his or her families whilst they appear out for us. We’re excited in regards to the difference this project with the Girls’ Brigade will make.”
Military families experience parental deployments, periods of non-deployment separation, heightened mobility, and the danger of parental injury, or bereavements, during service. Seventy-eight per cent of service families have children, 71 per cent of whom are under 18, and 32 per cent are under five. Almost one quarter of the families live apart in the course of the working week.
A 2021 report from the Naval Children’s Charity cited the challenges and struggles of parental deployment as including “increased household responsibilities, more intense emotions, anxiety for the well-being of their parent, missing their parent. It is intensified by missed traditions or events — all aspects the project seeks to alleviate.”
The project will concentrate on areas, including Salisbury Plain, Andover, and Carterton, where a high volume of Navy, Army, and Air Force service personnel are stationed. “Girls’ Brigade groups can provide girls and young women with an inspiring and nurturing community, supporting them through all of the changes which are a part of military life,” Dr Wood said.
