crofton schools family hub
Service families
Service Family Information
The Crofton Cluster of schools have a high number of families with one or both parents/ carers either currently serving or having served in the Services (This includes Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and RAF).
There is a range of advice and support available to Service families in our community and with children attending our schools.
​
Groups for children include: Crofton Hammond Infants Musketeers, Crofton Hammond Juniors Keeping In Touch, Crofton Anne Dale Federation Little Troopers and Crofton secondary's Crofton DandeLIONS (events are posted on the website). All children with a parent/ carer in the Services can attend so please let school know if you are in the Services so your child can be offered a place.
​
Hampshire County Council have put together a resource for schools and families which focuses specifically on supporting pupils from service families. Please click the drop down menu below to view/download this PDF guide.
Anchoring Minds is an emotional wellbeing service within Solent Mind providing support in the community to Royal Navy and Royal Marine families in Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport and the Isle of Wight, in partnership with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and Solent NHS Trust.
We want to ensure families of serving personnel know how and where to access wellbeing and mental health support when they need it. We understand that living with a partner, child or parent in the Royal Navy or Royal Marines creates a unique set of challenges, that can at times put pressure on your mental health or wellbeing. With frequent moving, stress around deployment and loneliness to contend with, families can sometimes need some extra support.
Anchoring Minds can help you:
Access the support you need
Offer a friendly chat with someone who understands what you are going through.
Provide access to peer support groups for you to join
Offer free courses to improve your wellbeing or longer term support
The contact point is Collete Abery (cabery@solentmind.org.uk). You can self refer via the website and the link to the referral form or you can discuss with Lisa Noice and she can make the referral for you. https://www.solentmind.org.uk/support-for-you/our-services/anchoring-minds/
Sometimes it can be difficult to find the help, support or advice you need. That’s why we’re here.
Our website has the answers to questions we’re often asked.
But if you need something else, our friendly team is ready to help, or to introduce you to someone else who can.
We’re a totally confidential service, we understand the challenges of Navy life but aren’t a formal part of the Naval Service.
Whether you need help with schools, where you live or work, your finances, your future, a posting overseas, relationships or your health, our concern is always for you, our Naval Service family.
It can be tough for our armed forces keeping relationships together in these difficult times with diverse worldwide demands, increasingly long deployments, transition into civilian life, rollback from Germany to name but a few of the pressures.  This is why Relate nationally has been chosen by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force to provide relationship support and Relate Dorset, South Wiltshire and South Somerset is able to help you and your family in a number of ways.
You may not even be in a relationship – you may be recently separated, divorced, widowed or have been single for a while.  Whatever your circumstances, talking to one of Relate’s friendly and professional counsellors can help you to work through any issues at your own pace.
Royal Navy and Royal Marines
The RN and RM Charity sponsor the programme which is available to serving personnel and / or their partners and family and to veterans.  Whether you're married, living together, in a same-sex relationship, separated, divorced or single, Relate can help.
Everything you say to your counsellor will remain completely confidential.  No one in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines will be told that you have accessed these services unless there are safeguarding issues.  You will need to provide your or your partner’s service number to receive the service, but this is simply to confirm eligibility.
RN/RM personnel or their partners and veterans self-refer by calling the RNRMC dedicated number 01302 380279 which will be answered by a Relate professional and is confidential.
> What’s available
Adult Relationship Counselling (7 sessions), Family Counselling (7 sessions), Young People’s Counselling (7 sessions) and Sex Therapy (21 sessions) and each of these can be conducted through face to face, telephone, email, web or live chat.
Launched in 2019 an online service for RN / RM personnel and veterans called Building Stonger Families can be accessed at this link.  It is an online learning programme supporting couple relationships and families.  Take a look, it's proving very popular.
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund support the programme  which is available to serving RAF personnel, their partners and family and veterans, whether they are married, living together, separated, divorced, in a same sex relationship, civil partnership, or coping with the end of a relationship.  
Everything you say to your counsellor will remain completely confidential.  If you are serving no one in the Royal Air Force will be told that you have accessed these services unless there are safeguarding issues.  You will need to provide your or your partner’s service number to receive the service, but this is simply to confirm eligibility.
RAF personnel or their partners and veterans self-refer either by calling the RAF dedicated number 0845 077 5556 or contacting your local Relate centre in this case Relate Dorset and South Wilts, by calling 01302 380900 or email us via make an enquiry.  In both cases your enquiry will be dealt with by a Relate professional and is confidential.
> What’s available
Adult Relationship Counselling (6 sessions), Family Counselling (6 sessions) and Sex Therapy (12 sessions) and each of these can be conducted through face to face, telephone, email, web or live chat.
RAF personnel and their families and veterans also have access to a self-directed RAFBF online learning programme supporting couple relationships and families called Building Stonger Families.
Relate is also managing a Family Mediation Service for RAF Personnel, please call 0845 077 5556 for more information.
Some Relate centres also provide a Relate relationship coaching course to help keep a good relationship strong or give you the skills to cope with difficult relationships.  Relate Dorset is not able to provide this course at the moment, but for more information please call 0845 077 5556.
Army
The Army Welfare Service have worked with Relate nationally for many years, but in 2017 a new service provider is supporting the AWS and the valuable work they do together with the garrison welfare personnel.  Nevertheless, across the whole of Dorset (including Bournemouth and Poole) Relate Dorset are continuing to work with the AWS and their partners to support serving personnel where we can.  We are also working with Bovington to explore support to families and our work with RNRM Welfare service at RNAS Yeovilton can also be accessed by 1 AAC squadron and its support staff.
> Making Sense of the Emotional Cycle of Deployment for Children
> The Overlooked Casualties of Conflict
> Voice of Schools Survey Report