Introducing
Old Comrades
Old Comrades is the new online community designed exclusively for retired British Veterans to connect and reconnect over shared interests and experience, while discovering a local veteran community.
Upcoming Veterans Outreach Events
Veterans Outreach - Introduction to Homeopathy
Thu 3rd Jul 2025 2.00pm - Thu 3rd Jul 2025 4.30pmThe Chelsea Pensioners Veterans Outreach programme invites retired veterans from the Tri Services & Merchant navy to Join us for a talk and introduction on Homeopathy by Ewa Macur.
Veterans Outreach - Line Dancing
Thu 10th Jul 2025 2.00pm - Thu 10th Jul 2025 3.30pmThe Veterans Outreach programme is delighted to invite all veterans from the tri-services and Merchant Navy, to join the Chelsea Pensioners for a fun Line Dancing lesson designed for any level.
Cowboy hats are not compulsory but are very much appreciated.
Veterans Outreach - Growing Your Own Salad Workshop
Tue 15th Jul 2025 10.30am - Tue 15th Jul 2025 2.30pmJoin us for a relaxed and hands-on salad-growing workshop, hosted at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in partnership with the Defence Gardens Scheme and our Veterans Outreach team.
Upcoming Drop in sessions
June 2025
- Thu 26th: 10:00 - 12:30 - PTSD Awareness Day (Combat Stress, Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes & Fighting with Pride)
July 2025
- Thu 3rd: 10:00 - 12:30 - Breakfast Club
- Thu 10th: 10:00 - 12:30 - (Supported by Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Help For Heroes & Combat Stress)
- Thu 17th: 10:00 - 12:30 - (Supported by Department for Work & Pensions, Veterans with Dogs & The Stoll Foundation)
- Thu 24th: 10:00 - 12:30 - (Supported by Royal British Legion, Department for Work & Pensions, Combat Stress, Veterans with Dogs & The Stoll Foundation)
- Thu 31st: 10:00 - 12:30 - (Supported by Help for Heroes & Veterans with Dogs)
No booking required for drop in sessions. Please come to Chelsea Gate on arrival and you will be directed to the Soane Stable Yard where our drop ins take place.

A Vision for Outreach
"As a veteran of campaigns in Northern Ireland, The Balkans, The Gulf, and latterly two prolonged and very demanding wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, I have seen many comrades leave the Services carrying injuries both mental and physical that will be with them in some form for life.
When interviewed by the Commissioners for the post of Governor I therefore stated that if I got the job I would not only do my utmost to ensure that the 300 or so Pensioners continue to be cared for to the highest standards, and to preserve our glorious buildings for them and for the Nation, but that I would seek to leverage the influence and reputation of the Royal Hospital Chelsea to provide more direct support to veterans, particularly the elderly, living outside our Chelsea home.
This important programme will deliver on the aspiration to provide Outreach services to tens of thousands of veterans from all three Services who live outside the Royal Hospital."
General Sir Adrian Bradshaw
KCB OBE DL - Governor
The Context
Our comprehensive active ageing programme here at the Royal Hospital Chelsea encourages Chelsea Pensioners to support each other, just as they did in the British Army. This includes spending time together socially, accompanying each other on visits and activities, going with fellow Pensioners to external medical appointments, and visiting comrades in hospital. Veterans together, with their shared experience of the Service ethos and of the rigours of military campaigns, can be of enormous help to each other, leveraging the bonds between veterans that go beyond the spoken word. This can be of significant benefit to their mental health and wellbeing, particularly in dealing with the effects of PTSD. Chelsea Pensioners also work together to support the routine and services of the Royal Hospital and contribute to the community to which they belong.
The Royal Hospital is immensely grateful for the annual Ministry of Defence funding that meets about half of the cost of providing services to our resident Chelsea Pensioners and maintaining our buildings. But now, by providing our unique brand of comradeship, care and sense of community, we want to help not only the 300 or so fortunate and deserving Pensioners living here, but also many from amongst the almost two million veterans from all three Armed Services and the Merchant Navy who live beyond our gates.

Veterans Outreach Picnic
Hear how our our Veterans Outreach programme is having a positive impact on retired Veterans from around the UK.
Chelsea Outreach
The primary purpose of the Chelsea Outreach programme is to reduce social isolation and loneliness in older veterans, particularly those over the age of 65, who served in the three Armed Forces and Merchant Navy. The programme operates from facilities here at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, including the purpose-built Activities Centre, the adjacent Outreach, Heritage and Visitor Centre, and extensive grounds and gardens that provide the health and wellbeing benefits of urban green spaces.
We offer supported activity groups, including themed monthly events, activities in collaboration with partners such as The Fighting Chance and the Defence Gardening Scheme, and a weekly Drop-In session every Thursday where veterans are welcome to come and engage in convivial company with our resident Chelsea Pensioners.

The programme aims to provide comradeship and a sense of community to veterans who might benefit from the company of other veterans who have shared the Service ethos and experienced the unique challenges of military campaigning and keeping the peace. We collaborate with partner organisations in London and beyond to deliver these benefits, and a number of these organisations also attend our Thursday Drop-Ins and annual summer picnic in Ranelagh Gardens.
Our ambition is to progressively extend this outreach service to the other regions of the United Kingdom where there is a need, and to complement these in-person programmes with a digital outreach service.