We have a parents WhatsApp group on my unit, just them and some of the staff. We also have a cadets and parents Facebook page, but it doesn’t get a lot of traffic. You might meet more parents on a committee, if your squadron has one.
This site has an interesting perception within the organisation, it’s a bit marmite, and HQ sees us as troublemakers with too many opinions. Some staff steer clear of it and try and pretend it doesn’t exist.
The air cadet leadership have SM as said and a few sticky comments, queries, questions from parents on these have the potential to stir things up. They cannot control parents, other than say, if you don’t like it go somewhere else. As said we get told to shut up and get in line and effectively ignored.
Our kids old school upset some parents and their social media by all accounts lit up and things changed.
Parents vent their disquiet at us, we do what we can to placate them, but it is just that, we have no way of actually changing things.
In my opinion parents are like in all youth groups the real customers of the Air Cadets and can take their children and money elsewhere. Even in school, parents can take their children to other schools if they aren’t happy.
Unfortunately the RAF/HQAC don’t understand this customer/client relationship and treat people accordingly.
As a parent you become part of the Squadron Association, a bit like a non-voting extension of the Civilian Committee and have the right to be present at the AGM. You could also join the committee if you wish to.
You can raise queries through the committee, as ultimately it is them you are paying your subs to. They don’t deal with the operational and delivery aspect of the unit - that is left to the OC and other CFAV - but they should certainly have lines of communication and avenues they can explore to help parents.
Our chairman always does a bit at intakes (at my insistence) to explain the role of the CWC, and he gets other members to come along to do tea and coffee and speak to parents. But I know a lot of squadrons like to keep the CWC at arms length. The CWC meetings are held at the sqn on parade nights.
As I say parents can have a much bigger influence on things than uniformed volunteers ever can. But they only see their kids’ units and not the bigger picture, so think all the problems are local.
I’ve always prompted the chairman when they go to Wing meetings, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by Wing, given some of the comments that I’ve had.
Thank you for telling me this. How do i find the details of the squadron association?. Do I ask his squadron. They have not been very forthcoming so far.
On the next parade night ask to speak to the chairman and meet up.
Very remise of the chairman or other committee members to not be at the intake. But as I say a number of sqns like to keep the committee at arms length and moan about them, odd behaviour when the sqn cannot exist without a committee.
It may not work, but try emailing chair.xxx@rafac.mod.gov.uk (where xxx is the number of your son’s squadron), and you might be put in touch with the Chair of your sqn’s civ com.
However, it’s a racing certainty that the issue is not really your sqn, but the wider organisation.
You’re obviously on Facebook to be linked to your squadron’s page, use the links higher up to connect to the pages that cover the whole organisation, you’re much more likely to gain traction there.
Nationally, yes in terms of raising the broader impact of uniform availability, but raising things more locally (Wing as opposed to Region) could see a quicker resolution in this case if someone local can come up with what’s needed.
For your issue it is probably the squadron which is having this issue. I don’t hear of many squadrons who offer larger uniform, especially mine don’t. Your best shot is to contact your sons OC about it. Tony Keeling and the higher in command aren’t going to do a lot about it as it’s not such a big issue which needs to be addressed.
That’s because they do not understand the power of discontented parents and the power they can wield. Despite probably having been one themselves. How many kids go to clubs/groups like ours, are not happy and rather than make a comment, parents say “OK dear we’ll look at something else” and go elsewhere for their kids enjoyment. It is widely held in business that only 1 in 10 complain, the others stop buying/using and bad mouth whatever it is.
We pride ourselves on the main uniform provided at no cost, if that doesn’t happen and I know it’s out of our direct control then, it becomes something for a 1* to get stuck into and get it sorted, unless of course they are so far down the food chain to be unable to do anything, which then raise the question why have someone in charge of us who cannot make a real difference. You only need a few parents like @Victoria12 to get uppity who cannot be ‘controlled’ by HQAC and soon it becomes unpleasant for them as parents cannot be told to get back in their box, like they can with us. How many parents nationally are not happy with something as basic as uniform supply? How many uniform “supply issues” have we had over the years for every item of uniform, because the procurement side is crap or the design / material has changed and cadets are the bottom of the list. Which isn’t fine as like this ladies son, he’s excited to get his uniform so he can feel like he’s part of the gang.
We can go down the route of cadets buying uniform, but then you need to ensure the consistency of supply across all sizes, regardless of numbers and I’m not convinced the MoD/RAF are up to that. It is pointless pointing parents at surplus shops and websites as they just buy old stuff in bulk and no idea what they are getting in terms of size or condition. If we want to adopt this approach we need a shop akin to the Scouts and not something that resembles a really bad jumble sale/charity shop.
The issue is, those who are most affected by this are affected for, at most, about a year. Kids grow. And once it no longer affects them, the parents will drop the cause.
I wonder if we’d be better off having a junior section, on the lines of the SCC, who wear a polo/sweatshirt. If we were issuing official uniform at 13+ it would ease, though granted not eliminate, the issue.
Thank you for saying this. I was not prepared for the backlash I am getting for wanting to solve the problem of my sons uniform being to big! I now am known as a problem parent to the squadron and don’t feel i can use their Facebook page again after being given a warning and my post removed. I still have been unable to reach out to any other parents. I have emailed the squadron to say they are not very social, welcoming or informative amd that I would like to be able to meet othet parents. I appreciate they are all volunteers but it seems like they don’t want the parents to get to know each other and that as I parent I am not allowed to have a voice, that I have to learn the military way. As parents we where emailed to be told once dropping our cadet off at the barracks we have to leave immediately. I asked about a committee and to have details to be told there is something for finance but nothing about the running of cadets as thats MOD. It appears parents can not have a voice, I have felt really dragged down by all this and can understand why any parents can get nowhere with any issue. I now worry my son might be treated unfairly as I am a problem parent . I actually just want to forget all this now as a really unpleasant experience, it has changed my opinion of the RAF. If I feel in a better place in the future I will try to connect with other parents again so that we can have a voice even if only with each other.
-The air cadets are not the RAF.
-A squadron has no control / influence on parents (and nor should it!), so cannot create any meeting situation for you.
-The civilian committee is focused on the finances, but the full name is civilian welfare committee, so they do have a duty to look out for the cadets. There is definitely an avenue in. But the sqn is right that they (the committee) don’t have any influence on what the RAF gives them / us in terms of uniform. Did you try contacting them via the email address I offered in a previous post? Go direct, rather than via sqn staff. The parking situation is unfortunate, but not unique. We try to advise the same to our parents because we have no space for them to park up on.
-Your child will categorically not suffer any ill effects as a result of your questioning.
If it helps, based on when your son has joined, we were told exactly the same when my childrens squadron returned to face to face as a measure to prevent covid spreading so I do not think this is unique to your childs squadron. We were also told not to arrive too early at pickup time either and asked to wait in vehicles.
Maybe your sons squadrons communications have not been well written and do not provide enough context for you
*edit to add ‘told’ could also be interpreted as ‘asked’
