Forces news and opinion

Update 30.05.26 - The special reduced £5 subscription has been agreed and will be rolled out shortly. It will only be on offer for a short period during the transition to an association.

As members know we are in the process of reorganising BAFF with a view to giving up its company registration, at least for the time being. The driver for this is that the future annual costs for a commercial company secretary and registered office have gone up to £700/year, which is unsustainable for us at present.

The reorganised association will be membership based like the present federation, and have the same aims. We are very aware of legal aspects and the need to avoid liabilities. Existing subscriptions will automatically transfer to the new BAFF, but every member has the right to cancel their membership if they prefer; this can be done on the website or by email request.

The former company will not leave a cash surplus, but arrangements are in hand for final costs of the company liquidation to be paid when the time comes. The main cost thereafter will be for the website, which will continue. The new association will start with a 'clean sheet' financially, but with existing members.

We'll continue to keep you informed while work on the reorg continues.

A report will follow on a proposal for a temporary reduction in the annual subscription from £7.50 to £5 until the reorg process

An essential part of 'successor BAFF', which will take the form of an Unincorporated Association, is a new Constitution.

A draft of the new Constitution is now available for logged-in users (including for the time being lapsed members and BAFF Military Supporters) to see and comment.

The new Constitution will effectively replace the Memorandum of Association of the current BAFF (2006) Ltd, which is available for download HERE,

Members will see that certain sections of the old Constitution have been carried over into the new one.

The reasons for this are firstly, that in drawing up the Constitution the BAFF Steering Group took advice from Senior Counsel as to how to ensure that the organisation's representation of its members serving in the armed forces would be legal. At the time there had been dark accusations from some vested interests, before seeing our porposals, that representation would amount to 'mutiny',

Secondly, having obtained senior counsel's and solicitor's advice, the Constitution was drawn up online in consultation with 50 members of the 'Army Rumour Service' website, who were all currently serving or former members of the UK armed forces. We think it's important not to lose that work if BAFF is to continue at any level.

This note is public. Login is required to see and, if desired, comment on the current draft which will be posted by Doug Young. 

Work continues on reorganising BAFF to change its structure from a registered Company Limited by Guarantee to an ordinary unincorporated association.

The driver for the change is simply cost, specifically the next year's fee quoted by the accountants who act as company secretaries and provide the registered office.

The website will continue, as will volunteers' work on cases and campaigns.

Restructuring requires a formal decision to liquidate the Company. Only members with a current subscription as of today have a formal right to participate in that decision, but all registered BAFF Military Supporters are welcome to contribute their views and to ask questions.

More updates will follow.