RAF Coningsby youth club helps children cope with military life

The club is one of 24 run by the RAF Benevolent Fund's youth support programme

Organisers of a youth club run by a Lincolnshire RAF base have told how they help children cope with the pressures of life in a military family.

Airplay, near RAF Coningsby, is one of many across the country supporting the children of parents on active service.

The club, funded by the RAF Benevolent Fund, offers activities for children aged five to 18.

Youth worker Nicola Foggett said youngsters can "often feel really isolated", especially when overseas.

Ms Foggett, whose partner once served in the military, said watching the news could cause anxiety.

"Sometimes there can be something to do with the military in the news and it can play on their mind, or if a parent is deployed, they can often feel really isolated, not fully understanding what is going on," she said.

"Particularly if their parent is in a place where they cannot have that constant communication."

Youth worker Nicola Foggett said service children could feel isolated

RAF Coningsby is part of a network of 24 across the UK and the organisation offers an online Airplay Connect scheme which allows youth workers at RAF stations to reach children living off the base or overseas.

Millie, 15, has spent her childhood in seven different places, including in overseas postings such as Cyprus.

She has lived at Coningsby for more than two years and said Airplay had helped her make new friends when her family moved to Lincolnshire.

Mille, 15, said the club helped her when she moved to Lincolnshire

She recalled feeling sad when her father was deployed overseas one Christmas.

"Me and my dad, we're quite close," she said.

"He's always with me with my sports because I do a lot of that. He was always there, and then he just wasn't for a while.

"It was quite scary because I didn't know what was happening because the internet there is absolutely awful. So I couldn't even talk to him for four months."

The RAF Benevolent Fund said: "We developed Airplay back in 2010 in consultation with the RAF after serving families identified keeping young people safely occupied was a major concern."