Overlooked once again...

September already!!!! I really hoped to be writing a blog post about launching the Little Troopers at School project but yet again service children are overlooked, a niche group that is just too small in the grand scheme of things to support, apparently.
...............But our children are resilient and MUST be used to it by now so surely they will just chug along just fine....

I don't believe they will and I truly believe in the Little Troopers at School Project, I am passionate that if service children in schools got more tailored and specific support they would experience consistency which would be a huge benefit. Not just in one school that has a large number of military children and who has a good practise in place but at EVERY school they go to so they can expect the same level of support no matter where they live.

So the Service Pupil Premium exists but is grossly misunderstood because there is no guidance, yes the government created that pot of money, in fact David Cameron himself told me face to face he was very proud of the fact it was his idea to create the fund....but there it stops. The fund isn't enforced, schools are not accountable on how it should be spent and there is no guidance.

Many Little Troopers transitioning through many schools, different countries, different counties, different systems yet there is no uniform transition process to make this a smooth experience for military families. There should be. Our Little Trooper Transition Passport would combat this problem.

The Department of Education and Little Troopers were working closely after meeting Nicky Morgan former Secretary of State for Education....then Brexit happened and everyone and everything within government changed and so did the priorities...service children are no longer on the agenda.

And just like that the project comes to a halt.

Little Troopers still wants the project to come to fruition and will do all it can to gain funding to enable this to happen and to ensure children of military personnel are not failed and do not face disadvantage because the move around frequently or because of their parents chosen career.

Today no one will accept responsibility and make this project happen...not the MOD and not the Government so WE WILL! I will work tirelessly until this project is launched, because I do believe our Little Troopers need this support.

I'll keep you posted!

Louise xxx

Why do you do it?

As a family we are on the move again this summer...it feels like we have only just unpacked our boxes but 2 years flys by it seems in a flash so I am digging out the parcel tape once again.

We are in the window where you have requested a house on an online system your husband/wife isn't quite sure how to work, you are eagerly waiting to be allocated a house where your furniture won't fit, you will need a whole new set of blinds and your life will just look very different in just 10 weeks.

I was on the phone to a journalist this week doing an interview and she asked me a question which I haven't contemplated before and it really made me think "Why do you do it"

Blimey...erm.....umm.... Why do I do it?

I live this life because...I chose to be a soldier when I left school and it lead me to my husband, I now choose to support my husband and his job choice because it makes him who he is, if I made him leave before he was ready I'm not sure he'd still be the same person?

Why do I run the charity? I dedicate all my spare time outside my job to the charity because I so believe in all the Little Troopers, I so believe the little things count....I can not single handily make every service child happy and I can't take away the unique challenges they face but I know this charity can make a difference , even if just a small one, its a worthwhile difference.

We will all have different reasons for 'doing this' but we are all in this together and stronger people because of this life, it is only speaking to people with no experience of the military it highlights how alien it is to many.

Have a watch of this video...it reiterates why 'I'm doing this' for my soldier and for all the Little Troopers.

Here's to another successful summer for all of us who are onto new chapters and for My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures with some VERY exciting times ahead!

Louise xxx