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Army Welfare Service

Army Welfare Service (AWS) operates in Great Britain, Germany, Canada and Brunei and has three strands – Community Support, Personal Support and Administration.  All contribute to providing the best possible welfare support for Service Personnel and their families.

Community Support staff are involved in Early Years, Playwork, youth work, adult and family education and many other aspects of community development. The service provides social, recreational and learning opportunities which are accessible and affordable, of good quality and aimed at meeting local needs.

The Personal Support strand provides support to serving, married or single personnel and their families with any personal or family difficulty that arises. Work covers a wide range of subjects including relationships, addiction, debt, disability, bereavement and many others.

Employment Opportunities

GB is divided into 3 divisions, each with a number of teams led by a Welfare Support Officer, a Senior Community Development Worker (SCDW) and a Senior Army Welfare Worker (SAWW) who provide direction, support and supervision to their respective Community Development Workers (CDWs) and Army Welfare Workers (AWWs).  In Germany the teams are based on garrisons and each has a Garrison Youth and Community Officer fulfilling a similar role to that of the SCDW in GB. Brunei has a SCDW who manages two locally employed Community Support Workers and volunteers.

Community Support is led by a strategic management group composed of a professional head of service, a service development manager, a training and development officer, a senior manager in Germany and three divisional managers in Great Britain. All are experienced and professionally qualified officers. In total there are 12 officers, 19 SCDWs and approximately 90 CDWs. 

Personal Support mirrors this structure; however the majority of practitioner staff are serving soldiers. All senior managers and specialist Casualty Key Workers are civilians and are experienced and registered Social Workers.  A small number of AWWs are civilians. Civilian posts are advertised in relevant publications including Community Care.

Best Practice

In Great Britain the service works closely with local authorities and voluntary organisations, ensuring access to local provision and, where required, developing provision to meet the identified needs of military communities. In Germany, and other overseas locations, AWS seeks to provide at least the same level of community support as that provided by a good local authority.

Employment Policy

We recognise the value of employing people with different backgrounds, competencies and skills who can bring new ideas to help us deliver high quality services. No employee, client or service user will be discriminated against because gender, disability, race, sexual orientation, age, marital status, colour, religion, ethnic or national origin or creed.

Training and Career Development

As an Investor in People, AWS actively promotes progression and has strong links with a number of training providers.  Opportunities include NVQs in Youth Work, Playwork and Community Work and a range of in-house and externally provided CPD courses for fieldworkers and managers.  All civilian staff take part in the service’s annual Performance Appraisal and Development process.

Salary and Benefits

All Community Support Officers are paid in accordance with the Soulbury Committee Pay and Conditions for Youth and Community Officers.  SCDWs and CDWs are paid in accordance with the regulations laid down by the Joint Negotiating Committee for Youth and Community Workers.  Civilian AWWs are established Civil Servants (Band D) and are paid in accordance with current salary scales.

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