SIR JOHN CHESHIRE INTERVIEW
What persuaded you to become Chairman of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust?
It was more a 'who' than a 'what'. The 'who' was Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Knight, a very old friend who I knew had done a fantastic job creating the Trust in the first place.
When we got back from Jersey in April 2006, Sir Mike rang me and asked if I would consider being his successor. At that time, my conscience told me that it was pay-back time and that I should therefore volunteer to support one major (and preferably RAF-related) charity. So Sir Mike's call was indeed timely.
Having been co-opted by RIAT to host the Russian-speaking VIP guests in the late 1990s, I did know a little about what was involved. We had also hosted two balls in Jersey to raise money for the Flying Scholarships for the Disabled. The RIAT team had been closely involved in the organisation of both of those events and, during those visits, they had told me why the Trust had been set up and how well it was developing. But, ultimately, it was as a consequence of visiting the Trust and the Enterprises at Fairford last year, when I had the opportunity to meet all the major players, that convinced me that the Trust was a hugely worthy organisation with lots of potential and that being involved in it would be both a challenge and great fun.
In short, it was thanks to Sir Mike that I am involved today.
What do you hope to bring to the role?
The short answer is enthusiasm for a cause which I truly believe to be worthwhile. To that I should also add my unqualified support for those who are doing the hard work. In that group I include the permanent staff, my fellow Trustees and our Vice Patrons, plus all the volunteers who give so much time to help stage the Air Tattoo every year.
I also hope I bring to the table a little bit of relevant experience from the world of Trustees, charitable endeavour, and air shows. Finally, I like to think that I will be able to conjure up some new ideas that will help the Trust to increase its support for the wider RAF family, for the nation's youth and for the world of aviation in general.
The Trust is but one of a number of RAF charities – what support can it provide that the other charities do not?
The Trust is, indeed, the youngest member of the RAF family of charities. We are very conscious of this and the last thing we want to do is to duplicate the endeavours of our sister charities. Since the RAF Benevolent Fund and the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) are both dynamic and progressive organisations, we need to be in constant dialogue with them to ensure that we are supporting and not compromising their new endeavours.
So, what do we provide that the other charities do not? First, in our quest to support the wider RAF family, we are always on the look-out for projects on the front-line stations that will enhance the well-being and morale of the light blue community in these challenging times. We will also consider projects that will improve the operational effectiveness of the units. I should point out that we do recognise the risk of attracting criticism for supporting those projects which, in a utopian world, should correctly be funded from the public purse. The dilemma is that, in this era of savage pruning of the defence budget, a number of very important operational and welfare projects will never reach the top of the priority list for government funding. As a result, we believe we have an obligation to the wider RAF family to step in and lend our support in those areas which are most urgent.
Second, we are also committed to supporting the youth of the nation and particularly the Air Cadets and the Combined Cadet Force and their activities. We have already purchased, for the Air Cadets, six flight simulators for their Regional Activity Centres; and we have also funded flying scholarships and expedition training for the cadets at large. We are currently assessing whether there is anything meaningful we could and should do for the Cadet Outreach Programme, for the Scout Movement, and for the Prince's Trust.
Our third area of involvement is to support those projects which promote air mindedness in the community. In this context, we are, for example, very strong supporters of such organisations as the RIAT Flying Scholarships for the Disabled.
Finally, we also contribute to other charities such as Combat Stress. In this area, our objective is to improve the lot of those who have suffered on operations. Needless to say, we are always on the look-out for new worthy causes that merit our support.
What is the relationship between the RAF Benevolent Fund, RAFA and the Trust?
We do our level best to create and maintain an open dialogue with our sister organisations.
The objectives of that dialogue are to avoid duplication of effort; to avoid paddling in someone else's pond; to help wherever we can; and to keep a watching brief on those new areas in which the Benevolent Fund and RAFA have decided to become involved.
It will come as no surprise that I know both Sir Rob Wright and Philip Sturley, my counterparts at the Fund and RAFA, very well and I like to think that we all recognise the need to work in harmony in the best interests of the RAF family at large.
What is the biggest challenge facing the Trust?
It is our ability to encourage those worthy organisations that most need our support to bid for large-scale projects to be funded by the Trust.
This may seem like an odd challenge for a Trust to face. But the fact remains that some organisations seem reticent to 'think big' and bid for major programmes that we may be willing and able to support.
That said, it is probably only a question of time before we are facing the reverse situation: too many entirely laudable large-scale projects and the need to make the difficult decisions about the priority that each merits for funding.
The Trust receives nearly all its money from your trading arm, the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises whose biggest activity is the Royal International Air Tattoo. What effect will this summer's airshow cancellation have on the Trust?
The inevitable consequence is that the Trust will receive less money than it would have done had the Air Tattoo gone ahead as planned
However, I am delighted that, despite the cancellation, Enterprises has still been able to transfer a significant sum to the Trust for disbursement to worthy causes.
You may be assured that all our ongoing commitments will be honoured and that we are still looking for new worthy causes to support.
In short, the cancellation will impact on the Trust, but only to a limited extent.
Since 2005, Enterprises has gifted £1m to the Trust. Where would you like to see the bulk spent?
I am but one voice (and vote) amongst the Trustees and my colleagues are a great deal more experienced in the distribution of this Trust's money than I am. It would therefore be wrong to believe that my personal view on where the money should go is a significant issue. Moreover, much of the £1 million to which you refer is already committed to entirely worthy and appropriate projects. In a more general sense, I believe that, in the future, we should continue to strike a balance between donations to projects on RAF stations; to the youth (and the Air Cadets in particular); to the development of air mindedness; and to those organisations that help those who have suffered in combat.
That balance will inevitably vary, year-by-year, but our task is to ensure that all these causes get a fair cut of the cake.
By the time you leave, what would you like to have achieved?
At the moment I am still focused on trying to ensure that there is a seamless transition between the hugely capable Sir Mike Knight and myself. My short-term objective is to continue where he left off and to develop the fine ideas that he initiated. For that reason, I have given little thought to where we should be in five years time. At the moment, I believe it is important for me to listen to people's views. In particular I am keen to hear the views of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, as to where he and his Air Force Board colleagues see the Trust positioning itself in the longer term.
It is wholly appropriate that we should listen and react to the views of the Air Force Board. After all, this is the RAF's Charitable Trust and the current leadership has an absolute right to influence our thinking and actions.
If you ask me this question again in a year's time, I shall be able to give you a much more objective and complete answer.