Royal Air Forces Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) is a UK-based organisation which provides care and support to serving and retired members of the 'Royal Air Forces' (that is, Air Forces of the British Commonwealth) and their dependants. The Association has often misleadingly referred to as the 'RAF Association', with even their official web site using this term.
The organisation, which was formed in 1943, receives no funding from the government and operates entirely on donations and subscription fees.
There are currently 504 branches of the RAFA across the UK with a membership of 79,000 in the UK and abroad.
Money needed for their charity work comes from several places, including the RAFA's own Wings Appeal which raises circa £2 million annually.
RAFA provides 5 flying scholarships for members of the Air Training Corps, each year. These scholarships are provided as a thank you to members of the Air Training Corps for the support they give to the Association in helping to raise funds for the Wings Appeal.
The RAFA also runs a website purely for the single service Air Forces to search for comrades - whether they are serving or ex-serving personnel, this is a free service to all RAFA members.
