our story
Our story so far
The first hub was set up in 2017 at Leuchars, Scotland following internal campaigning by a group of military spouses, who were seeking a space on base where they could meet and connect with like-minded people and go to work in a professional office space outside of their SFA.
News spread fast, and soon other military spouses and partners from bases around the UK and abroad wanted the same where they were stationed at.
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By 2019, five further hubs had opened. But it was a random setup with no central management in place. In 2020, an application for funding to transform this grassroots initiative into an international network was submitted to the AFCFT. Funding for a two-year pilot project, ending October 2022, was approved. A small Delivery Team was put in place supported by RAFA and the Family Federations, and work began.
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Covid 19 however took its toll on the project, forcing the coworking hubs to close for long periods of time. Three of the existing hubs never recovered and remained shut. ​By the beginning of 2021, the MCN was back down to just three coworking hubs. However, by September 2022, the MCN had successfully opened six further coworking hubs, including the first one abroad at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
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Because the pandemic had effectively shortened the evaluation window, an application for a one-year project extension was made at the end of 2022. This was approved. ​Unfortunately, two of our coworking hubs were handed back to the relevant military base in 2023 for valid reasons.
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At the end of 2023, a detailed, independent evaluation of the project was commissioned and submitted to the MoD. This has resulted in a further extension of the project until March 2026.
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