News

As we celebrate yesterday's gold award for this year's Chelsea Flower Show Garden, we take a moment to reflect on a very special moment in our past - the 2005 Gold Medal-winning garden, A Soldier’s Dream of Blighty.

We are delighted to announce that the Chelsea Pensioner Garden, designed by Dave Green and supported by London Square Developments, has been awarded Gold in the Small Show Gardens category at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025.

This year’s Chelsea Flower Show marks a particularly meaningful milestone in the story of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, as we partner with the remarkable charity Fine Cell Work on a project that brings together heritage, rehabilitation, and craft.

We were recently delighted to welcome our supporting partners, London Square Developments, for a special photocall to celebrate the creation of the Chelsea Pensioner Garden - a unique and lasting project designed for this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

When the war started, I was called up as a regular soldier at the age of 17. I was excited; in those days you thought it was exciting going to war. I was a gun layer and saw through the Blitz in London, as part of the Anti-Aircraft Battery. During the first week of the war,a German Dornier Do flying boat came over on a reconnaissance mission and I had to lay the gun to fire at it. I didn’t hit the Dornier, but knocked a kitchen chimney down. I wasn’t very popular and we weren’t given any breakfast that morning!

Brian Howarth was only 16 when he joined the British Army in 1942. Three years later, he was risking his life as a paratrooper in a huge airborne battle over the Rhine. Although he is now in his 90s, Brian’s memories of wartime remain as vivid as ever.

As the Royal Hospital Chelsea marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), we reflect not only on the end of the Second World War, but on the lived experiences of those who served. Among them are Chelsea Pensioners Brian Howarth and John Morris - two veterans whose stories remind us of the courage, sacrifice, and resilience that defined a generation.

This Sunday, our CEO David Richmond CBE and Chelsea Pensioner Dave Godwin will be taking part in the London Marathon to raise money for the Royal Hospital Chelsea. David will also raise money for the Invictus Games Foundation, for who he has been a long-term supporter.   

We recently had the pleasure of joining Chelsea Pensioner Archie Ferguson as he showed us his delightful Easter Garden, part of the wider Dementia Gardens that he and fellow Chelsea Pensioner Alan Rutter have lovingly curated for their fellow Pensioners. 

The Royal Hospital Chelsea was honoured to welcome His Excellency, The Right Honourable Ralph Goodale PC, Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, and members of the Canadian Armed Forces for the 11th annual Canadian Pancake Breakfast on Tuesday, 4 March 2025.

We are delighted to announce that the refurbishment of our Infirmary building has been nominated for ‘Best Interior Design’ at the Healthcare Design Awards 2025.

Festivities continued this week at the Royal Hospital Chelsea as we celebrated the annual Ceremony of the Christmas Cake