Edited for clarity - a weeks unpaid was taken of which the VA was to help offset.
Without sounding rude, a weeks unpaid is your decision, and the costs lost from that canāt be blamed on the org. Iāve taken unpaid days a couple of times, but wouldnāt even consider a week, being in uniform or not.
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Oh I see. Well yes, I can see why that being eaten in to might not be great!
Itās a funny situation for sure.
I wouldnāt consider a day unpaid.
But I always struggle to use all my annual leave so can blow 5 days a year in a camp. I know not many others can get away with that at home.
I get the standard 28 days, but my boss is quite relaxed. Given the amount of overtime I do to gain extra, taking a day off on a Friday as unpaid is manageable. Iāve taken annual leave for camps though.
If your self employed everything is unpaid.
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I get that, but the point being itās still a personal decision to do a weeks camp. I know a lot of staff who just wonāt because they donāt want to use up holiday and canāt afford a weeks unpaid.
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Which due to the ridiculous matrix can be limiting for the individual.
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Youāre not wrong there. But personally I wouldnāt want to pay to volunteer for a week just so I have a tick in a box to get a promotion. 
The weeks away Iāve done were not influenced by any of that, mainly because Iām a CI! The weeks away Iāve done were essentially me enjoying a hobby! Taking kids out climbing/paddling/mountain biking etc. Or taking a week off to learn how to do those things.
And as a CI you arenāt paying an messing or accommodation.
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But overall Iām missing out moreā¦
Not rude at all 
I made the decision based on previous experience and the fact that my Cadets wouldnāt have got a camp had I not.
Is what it is, lessons learned - my issues are my own etc etc.
Those aside, my original point is that paying anything out of pocket seems to be accepted as normal, whereas my experience would suggest for other CFAVās it is not.
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It depends what you do I guess. I really feel there should be no CFAV, uniformed or otherwise, that end up out of pocket for doing cadet activities. Iāve done volunteering elsewhere and never ended up out of pocket.
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I agree, but it is common eg in Scouts to pay towards camp costs. Sometimes itās minimal, something in the food kitty, but in other groups it can be rather a lot.
Iād always thought unavoidable costs for volunteers should be reclaimable so for us that would include food & accommodation. VA is to cover other things such as maintenance of kit.
If we did away with VA weād all need all PPE and equipment issued - boots, waterproofs, daysacks, bergans etc. 2 sets of for those who do AT and mil activities.
But why would you need that issued if VA went away? I donāt get VA and have never been issued any of those things. But I have and use all of them.
Itās a tricky line I think as I havenāt purchased the equipment purely for cadet use. Any group kit is purchased via CWC and isnāt mine. But my personal kit does get more wear and tear because of the stuff I do with cadets. But all of the stuff that is mine, I use my self whilst not at cadets too.
And yes I do believe any stuff that is only really used within cadets should be issued. Uniform/tailoring, bargains for FC and other FC type stuff.
And if VA is to cover things such as kit maintenance, then it should be a flat rate per day across all ranks. incl CIs. Not varying from Ā£30 to over Ā£100 depending what you wear on your shoulder.
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Under the SST I have to have greens including combat boots. I need webbing to be able to conduct FT. I donāt wear any of that on the train to work or if I go for a hike with friends.
CIs donāt need the above - granted - and they get my spare webbing when helping on courses.
But there is a lot of stuff I do need under the PPE rules for AT. All my AT gear totalled up is a hell of a lot of money, but Iāve never received a penny from HQ towards any of it, even though I use it mostly for cadet stuff? If VA is meant to cover these things, then why is it Uniform only? Personally I donāt feel cadets should help pay for stuff I use personally and for cadets.
As I said above, we all need to be able to claim all expenses so weāre not out of pocket. But VA is just shooting in the dark to do this. A Sgt and a Sqn Ldr on the same week long AT camp for example will have very similar expenses, but very very different amounts they can claim back.
Does your wing not have webbing that can be borrowed also? I see no reason why the wing CWC couldnāt buy these items for staff and cadets to use?
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And to summarise with the overall issues, the current system is not fair. Some people are essentially gaining a āprofitā via VA, as their expenses for what they deliver are very low. And some staff are very much out of pocket from their volunteering. Either because they are a CI or low rank that gets little VA, and the activities they do have a much higher āentry costā.
I think that is a very good summary. I would certainly favour CIs getting VA.
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I think that we are incredibly lucky to be able to claim any money towards our kit. Itās certainly not the standard for other volunteering roles/organisations.
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