A
loan shark – or illegal money lender - is someone who lends money illegally
without proper authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
That
means if you borrow from them, they don’t have to follow the rules – they can
decide how much you pay back and when.
These
criminals are not always easy to spot - they can be a friend, a fellow service
member, even a senior officer.
Whoever they are, they will usually appear as a friendly face, offering you a favour. They may tell you that what they are offering is nothing more than peer-to-peer lending and their offer may seem hard to resist.
The Families Continuous Attitude Survey 2025 – which hears from Service spouses and civil partners about their views on Service family life – is now open!
Take part in this year’s tri-Service Families Continuous Attitude Survey (FamCAS) and help Defence to understand your experiences and thoughts across a broad range of areas. Your feedback will help Defence to make changes and develop policies to better meet your needs.
The survey invites a random sample of civil partners and spouses of regular serving personnel to take part. To see if you’ve been invited to complete the survey, and to access the survey, please check the online eligibility tool.
Member Days:
Blue Light Card’s Member Days are back and bigger than ever before. Each year, attractions across the UK will close their gates to the public, on selected dates, and open them exclusively for our members. Expect smaller crowds, free parking, selected discounts on food and drink. Our first Member Day at Alton Towers takes place on Friday 7th March so don’ t delay in getting your tickets.
Empowering You is brought to you by the Forces Employment Charity, from Monday, 10 March, to Wednesday, 12 March 2025.
It is a hybrid three-day employability and confidence-building workshop for spouses and partners, including military women, and those who are separated, divorced, or bereaved.
Please note military spouses and partners of any gender may attend.
Your top 5 reasons to attend:
For more information and to register, please go to
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Come and join Recruit for Spouses for a brew and a slice of cake 🍰☕ while learning all about what RFS has to offer.
One of our reps will be there to chat about our programmes and how we can help you thrive.
Don't miss out on this chance to connect and discover new opportunities!
Head over to the portal to sign up
Your SSAFA Health Visitor, will be facilitating a number of face to face parent sessions over the next few weeks/months, as per the attached timetable.
The Families Hub – which signposts to information, support and organisations to help navigate all stages of Service family life – has launched.
For the first time, Armed Forces families will be able to access a “one stop shop” digital platform – which signposts to a wealth of information, support and organisations – to help you navigate Service family life.
The Families Hub is for all Armed Forces (Regular and Reserve) families and personnel – from the moment of entering the Forces, through to leaving.
Visit the Families Hub today and explore a range of topics, including partner support, housing, health and wellbeing, childcare and finance.
Army personnel and Army civil servants are eligible to sign up to Headspace for free, and also to extend this free subscription offer to five friends and family.
To sign up, please go to https://work.headspace.com/britisharmy/member-enroll
Please use your @mod.gov.uk, @armymail.gov.uk or @csmail.mod.uk email address to verify your account when prompted.
Headspace says, “We make mental health support accessible to everyone, no matter their background or experience.
Through our flagship Headspace app, we provide mindfulness tools for everyday life, including meditations, sleepcasts, mindful movement and focus exercises.
Our enterprise offerings combine this experience with a human-centered model of care, with coaching, therapy, psychiatry and EAP services under one roof. Our team of experts ranges from mental health clinicians, to Emmy award-winning producers and data scientists, working together as one to help millions of people around the world be healthier and more productive.”
To find out more about this year’s Month of the Military Child, please visit: www.neversuchinnocence.com
You can watch the Dandelions music video, a song written by the Armed Forces Children's Choir for Month of the Military Child, on YouTube: Dandelions Music Video.
Applications are now open for the Service Pupil Support Programme which is part of the MOD’s Armed Forces Families Fund (AF3).
The programme will award grants between £5,000 and £150,000 to projects supporting service children along their educational pathway, and to reach their full potential. Deadline is midday on 30th April 2025. See the Press release for more detail and links.
Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Croydon, Dover, Gartcosh, Ipswich, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Stratford
CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 4 April 2025
In this position, your daily tasks will vary. For example, one day you might search premises, and the next you could conduct interviews with suspects. You will receive top-quality training to help you develop specialised skills in preventing tax fraud and safeguarding public funds.
At its core, this job is about outsmarting criminal groups threatening the UK. You’ll need sharp judgement, resilience under confrontation, and integrity as you exercise far-reaching investigative powers.
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (the Trust) has announced a new round of funding under the Reducing Veteran Homelessness (RVH) Programme in a bid to deliver further sustainable, supported housing options for veterans in need.
The Trust is delivering this important programme on behalf of the Office of Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) in support of the government’s ambition to end veteran homelessness and ensure veterans have access to the support they need, including housing.
HMRC Criminal Investigator Officer
Multiple vacancies – UK wide
Closing date: 4 Apr 25
GFiE roles are available specifically to people who served in the Armed Forces, or be in your resettlement period and due to leave the Armed Forces within a reasonable time frame or a Military Spouse/Partner (your current partner must still be serving or was discharged within the last 12 months).
To apply, please submit a completed EOI Form (also see Guidance notes) and an up to date CV to GFIE@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
For more information on the GFiE scheme please go to: A complete guide to GFiE – Veterans, Military Partners/Spouses and Service Leavers – Life Chances – Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) (blog.gov.uk)
The Karneval season is back, here you can find out about the range of events leading up to the main parade parties on "Rose Monday."
This year Rose Monday is the 3rd of March. Most cities and towns will be staging parades. Some like Cologne have a whole week of celebrations.
Our home state NRW can rightly claim to be the capital of Karneval. With the OG event in Cologne which has held over 200 Karneval parties. Aachen, Bonn, Dusseldorf, and Paderborn all stage events.
NHS Step into Health are pleased to announce their upcoming information session: Helping you to return to practice after your serving spouse or partner is posted abroad due to take place on Wednesday 26th March, 10 - 11am.
This comprehensive guide is designed to answer some of the common questions and concerns you may have about maintaining your professional healthcare validation or registration while you are posted abroad with your serving partner or spouse. It provides essential information and practical advice shared by a variety of regulatory bodies to ensure that your credentials remain up-to-date and valid during your time overseas.
During this one-hour webinar, attendees will hear from representatives of various regulatory bodies across multiple clinical professions, as well as members of NHS England’s return to practice team.
📢 Free financial webinars this February from Serve and Protect - don't miss out!
Challenges, support mechanisms and coping strategies of parents in the British armed forces.
The research will be conducted by Lt Col Jess Beck, a student on the Advanced Command and Staff Course, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, and will be supervised by Dr Ellen Hallams, School of Security Studies Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, King’s College London.
What is the research about?
The study will examine the challenges, advantages and disadvantages of being a parent in the British military, and the coping strategies which are used by military parents. It aims to understand what additional support and flexibility is required to enable a military career to be maintained, and where there are current shortfalls.
The Dortmund centre presents new exhibitions on the 24th of January. As part of the Phoenix West cultural centre on a old iron works. The blast furnace was converted into a public space.
Since 2023 it has served as a giant canvas for spectacular exhibitions.
Now in its second year you will be able to find brand new exhibitions. Walk through ancient Egypt. See nature up close alongside the works of French oriental artists.
The exhibitions are giant projections in the main hall.
Watch the video below to get a better idea of how the exhibitions look.
Adult tickets are €16.00
5-17 Years €10.00
Family ticket 2 adults and two children 5 -17 years €42
You can book tickets and see more information here
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From 14 to 20 January 2025, selected advance and off-peak fares will go on sale at up to 50% off for travel between 17 January and 31 March 2025.
If you’re in a Long Term Relationship (LTR) with a Service person, Defence would like to hear your views and experiences about Service family life.
Defence has launched a pilot survey to better understand the experiences of Long Term Relationship partners, including dual-serving partners, of serving personnel. This survey is anonymous and closes on Monday 3 February 2025.
Please note that this survey is open to the entire LTR population, and is separate to the LTR Overseas pilot scheme survey that is also currently ongoing.
The military children’s charity, Little Troopers, has launched a series of free family reconnection weekends for forces families to spend quality-time together.
Funded by Team Forces, the four Little Troopers weekends invite young people and their parents to go away for an exciting few days of outdoor adventure and connection where they’ll be encouraged to put down their phones, meet people, do new things and spend quality time together.
Open to families with up to four siblings aged 9 and over, the weekends will be packed with adventurous activities including coasteering, raft building, kayaking, mega SUPing and coastal bushcraft, as well as time to relax on the beach, watching the sunset with a hot chocolate.
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Are you part of the armed forces community with plans to become a business founder? Our Military Spousal Founders Programme is designed just for you.
We've partnered with Eagle Labs Academy to run this specially designed programme for military spouses who want to start and grow a business. Continuing our ongoing commitment to the armed forces covenant, the programme aims to assist spousal business owners establish a foundation to be successful in starting their own business.
Eagle Labs Academy is a digital learning platform that helps founders start and scale their business at their own pace.
The military children’s charity, Little Troopers, has launched a series of free family reconnection weekends for forces families to spend quality-time together.
Funded by Team Forces, the four Little Troopers weekends invite young people and their parents to go away for an exciting few days of outdoor adventure and connection where they’ll be encouraged to put down their phones, meet people, do new things and spend quality time together.
Open to families with up to four siblings aged 9 and over, the weekends will be packed with adventurous activities including coasteering, raft building, kayaking, mega SUPing and coastal bushcraft, as well as time to relax on the beach, watching the sunset with a hot chocolate.
