Veterans Outreach
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.
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.