Celebrating the Inspirational Family Member of the Year Award finalists

We know that Service personnel work hard, unpredictable hours and are often deployed at short notice. We also know that behind each and every member of personnel, there are amazing family members who have inspiring stories of their own to share. With that in mind, the first ever Celebrating Forces Families (CFF) Awards Evening will be taking place at the end of April in London and the CFF Team are thrilled to be sharing news of the Inspirational Family Member of the Year Award finalists. Five amazing military partners will be part of the evening’s black tie celebrations to find out who will walk away with the winning trophy.

This award is for someone who has gone the extra mile as a family member of the Armed Forces Community and, as a result of their efforts, has also helped inspire others.

Meet the finalists

Heather Sharp

Heather Sharp’s passion and tireless efforts have united over 900 fellow British Forces wives from across the globe and made a tangible difference to their resilience, self-reliance and connection to the community. They have been uniquely brought together through the adventures and challenges that Heather has led, instilling a culture that ‘Together we can achieve anything’. Heather has achieved this by creating the social enterprise, Forces Wives Challenge, which is run entirely by volunteers (herself included).

Miranda Rutherford

Miranda Rutherford is a pillar of the community in Preston. She is the mother of twins and married to a Serving paramedic. Miranda wrote and published two books about Fulwood and Weeton Barracks, illustrated by Service children, which support families’ mental health during relocations, and she gifts them to every Forces family moving in. Miranda attends every community meeting and coffee morning, assists every welfare event and party – and genuinely cares about her neighbours.

Clockwise: Rusila Halofaki, Suliana Tuliteci and Sala Smith

Suliana Tuiteci and Rusila Halofaki have been active members of the Fijian military community in conducting talks with internal and external stakeholders for the last 10 years. Their determination and hard work, mainly at their own cost and in their own time, enabled success through the Home Office scrapping visa fees for non-UK Service personnel. Sala Smith was instrumental in the erection of the Labalaba Memorial in Fiji capturing the dedication of Fijians in the Armed Forces.

Headline Award Sponsor, Parkdean Resorts’ CEO, Steve Richards says:

“Parkdean Resorts is committed to supporting the UK Armed Forces and their families, and it is a source of tremendous pride for the business, so we’re delighted to be able to celebrate the families of Serving personnel.

“We recognise that Service families make extraordinary sacrifices and provide incredible support for their spouses, partners and loved ones when they are deployed around the globe, and that families may have gone or are going through difficult times. We hope these Awards will recognise and reward those inspirational family members that have gone above and beyond.

“Family, fun and freedom is key to our DNA so, alongside these awards, we are also delighted to give back to the Armed Forces and their families via our ongoing commitment to gifting holidays to the Army Central Fund and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, and to raising funds for SSAFA.”

Chair of the Partner Employment Working Group, Sarah Walker says:

“It has been completely inspiring to read the many nominations we received – the hard part was choosing those we couldn’t shortlist. In my eyes, they are all winners! Our military families really do contribute massively to the UK Armed Forces, making it the fantastic community that it is today.

“I am also absolutely delighted to be working with a fantastic event team to bring to life our very first Celebrating Forces Families Awards Evening.”

Military families supporting military families

This event really is being brought together from within its own community. The event team are all military family members themselves – some grew up as military children, others as partners or Veterans. This includes additional resources such as Lee Mowlem from remarkablepixel.co.uk, Helen at helenholtphotography.com, Al Topping of xtremeexposures.com, Hannah Illingworth of hivirtualassistant.uk and Andrea Baker of bsclothingandgifts.co.uk.

Thank you to the sponsors

The financial support provided by all of the amazing CFF sponsors has allowed this tri-Service event to be a truly memorable evening for all families involved. 

All award finalists

You can read about all of the CFF award finalists through the CFF website.

For more information

Explore the CFF website, or you can contact the team by emailing info@celebratingforcesfamilies.co.uk.