Deployment Rollercoaster

Join us on our Deployment Rollercoaster - a resource co-produced with and for children with parents serving in the military

First, there’s the lining up stage – you know that you will soon be on the rollercoaster but you don’t know how long you will have to wait.

Once on board, you feel the anticipation of starting; your heart beats faster and you might worry about what’s going to happen next. Suddenly, you’re plunged into the unknown with your stomach churning as the air rushes to your face. Hurtling down the slope you might start to feel joy, exhilaration or possibly fear. At the end of the ride you try to get off, but your loved one asks you to go round one more time. The journey repeats. This time, you discover that you experience new emotions and notice the skyline a bit more.

Deployment can be a bit like this!

Join the McLennan family as they take you on a journey through the ups and downs of the deployment.

There are 7 stages to the rollercoaster to help navigate your own deployment journey.

The stages are:

Before they go
Last few days together
My serving parent or loved one is away
I am used to them being away
I hear that my serving parent or loved one will be returning
My serving parent or loved one returns home
Things are getting back to normal

As you journey through the ride, click on the stage that applies to you.
This will take you to information explaining the stage in detail and will provide resources created by young people from forces families to use and get support.

Supporting children and young people from armed forces and veteran families

From mental health and wellbeing services, youth forums, and residential experiences to standing up for children's rights, helping others to understand forces life, providing financial support, and much more.

Our charity was founded just four days before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Today, we deliver a broad range of work to support over 13,000 children and young people from armed forces communities. As a strengths-based and children's rights-focused organisation, we are committed to working directly with this community, and wider partners to co-produce our projects, services, and campaigns to celebrate the positives and overcome many unique challenges associated with forces life. 

We strive to achieve our vision of making Scotland a place where all children & young people from armed forces communities can feel heard, understood, and empowered to overcome unique challenges. We want them to dream big and pursue positive futures. 

We work with this community to co-produce projects, services, and campaigns

Co-producing our projects, services, and campaigns promotes human rights and proves highly effective in fostering a sense of ownership, empowerment, and confidence amongst children and young people. 

By getting involved, children and young people feel listened to and know their contributions are valued to deliver innovative, relevant, tailored, and effective outputs to meet unique support needs. Moreover, they have told us that it has helped them develop a stronger affinity with our charity and valuable transferrable skills, including problem-solving, decision-making, and teamwork that have strengthened future opportunities through personal statements and CVs.