Positively Disruptive Spouses
Dr Elizabeth Newman Earl - CEO e50K
What image does the phrase 'coffee morning' conjure in your mind? For me it represents an era passed - of wives sitting in a municipal environment, sipping tepid tea out of a polystyrene cup and casting around for topics of conversation with people, who are likely only there because it is seen as the right thing to do, to show they belong to a particular community. Military coffee mornings hosted in amenities centres across the UK military estate, have for decades served a purpose for the military spouse. Historically, they have been the source of information, housing surgeries and Point of Contact when a serving partner is deployed on exercise (overseas or home) or combat or undertaking training duties. Additionally, there are coffee mornings where spouses are rolled out to meet senior dignitaries to have 'their say'. Often with the serving spouses’ warnings (not to 'let them down', or say the wrong thing) ringing in their ears as they shake hands, balance 'fine china’ and attempt to elegantly nibbling at a biscuit.
In the 21st Century however, where not all spouses fit the traditional 'mould' of the stay-at-home mum or contented "trailing spouse" (which historically has been the stereotypical image associated with military spouses) there are a growing number asking, "is a coffee morning lifestyle enough for me"? A 'coffee morning' attitude is, worryingly, still pervasive amongst the senior echelons of the wider military establishment. During meetings attended over the last six months the question "well why do they not want to go to welfare run coffee mornings? surely that is enough?" has been posed. The idea of the halcyon days of a Welfare led cohort of submissive spouses 'all dressed up in their Sunday best and marched off to church' (Trustram) is one that, for some, seemingly sums up the right 'place' and 'expectation' for current military spouses. In response, there is a growing movement within the spousal community where the accepted status quo is no longer deemed to be enough. They do not want to passively sit and wait for things to 'happen for/to them'. Instead, they are ready, and able, to challenge the concept of apathy perceived to be 'the lot' and/or 'want' of the military spouse.
Take, for example, the Military Coworking Network, a grassroots organisation that has taken the concept of coworking hubs behind the wire. This concept, of having a professionalised space for those living in married quarters within restricted access garrisons and camps, has now been written into policy encouraging the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and the Ministry of Defence to find 'space' for a coworking hubs. Recognising the need for a space to work, not perched on the kitchen/dining room table, surrounded by the detritus of daily family life and that within this community there are a plethora of spouses running successful businesses, requiring nothing more than space to be their professional selves, away from the married quarter and the burden that being the un-serving spouse places upon them. The existence of other organisations such as MilSpo, a digital networking community championing military spouse run businesses, is further evidence of the desire to support and help each other achieve. Achieving successes, in the civilian world is challenging enough but, in a mobile and geographically controlled environment/ lifestyle it can often feel the odds are heavily stacked against you!
And then there is e50K, a new charity seeking to provide:
Education, Employment, Engagement and Enterprise
through identifying local solutions to local problems within militarised communities across the UK and British overseas military territories. e50K is seeking to work with differing military communities to identify what is missing within each specific locale, through strategic research and analytics. Through this approach it will create viable commercial models to support sustained and productive organisations/projects; helping the community to have real ownership and deriving tangible benefits e50K first community-based project is in Catterick, a community agricultural and environmental project (identified as a significant missing requirement during a 2020 Community Needs Analysis) developing an allotment site into a viable agricultural project in sympathetic partnership with a woodland conservation area and intergenerational activity space. Complementing the physical network of projects is e50Ks digital portal. Bringing together the disparate community of spouses (amongst whom many suffering from varying degrees of social isolation) on a purpose-built platform; providing community connectivity through a one stop shop of information, support and networking.
Partnering with those already active in the online world, the digital portal will facilitate the requirements of the community by first and foremost listening to their specific needs working in partnership to develop a 'space’ that is relevant and required. To my knowledge, this will be the first time such a platform for spouses has been developed -empowering this overlooked community in ways that have not been previously attempted or achieved. For e50K, alongside other grassroots military spouse led organisations, positive innovation and challenge to the status quo is what drives and inspires us to do more. Each one of the Operations Team at e50K are military spouses, each impacted in differing ways by having married into this lifestyle. Redundancies, deskilling, retraining is all part of their DNA. "Through a shared belief that there is so much more that can be achieved within, and for, our communities we have come together to create an innovative charity which fundamentally does not seek to dictate what "needs to be done" within this already institutionalised environment. Underlying everything we seek to achieve is the belief that there are those in this community who believe that to be termed as apathetic or wanting to be spoon-fed is wrong and misleading. There is an unrecognised power and ability in our community and to have physical and digital platforms to take ownership of environments is exactly what the military spousal community has proven they need and deserve."
e50K is being supported and championed by Amey for its first-year development. Amey recognises the restrictions placed upon military families are complex and challenging, leading to a potential detrimental impact on the lived experience of the men and women supporting the British Armed Forces. e50K is also supported by a growing number of civilian and military organisations (for more information please click HERE [https://www.e50k.org.uk/]).
