” As long as there are those who suffer from their service, so long will The Not Forgotten be needed.”
Remaining true to our founder’s words in 1919 (above) and wishes, ‘The Not Forgotten’ provides specially designed and individually tailored recreational activities and events. These aim to combat isolation and loneliness, thus enabling our wounded and disabled service personnel and veterans to live a life with dignity and independence. An inclusive organisation, with no membership, supporting regular and reserve members of the Armed Forces, Merchant Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary who have been injured, disabled or are suffering from mental illness, regardless of age, rank or length of service.
The Arms and Armoury Heritage Trust have in the past provided funding which has helped to support our programme. This dynamic and varied programme, whilst not clinical in nature is designed to support the individual’s personal recovery pathway. We receive no statutory funding and are therefore, heavily reliant on grant income from trusts such as the Arms and Armoury Heritage Trust in order to run our programme.
The activities and events be they social events or Challenge activities, enable the individual the opportunity to mix with others who may be experiencing similar feelings of isolation and loneliness.
In a typical year, ‘The Not Forgotten’ supports over 10,000 eligible beneficiaries. We do this through close working and support from many military charities and associations in order to target help where it is most needed. For many of these organisations, we are the partner of choice for entertainment & recreational events.
Our dynamic programme includes: –
- Over 100 concerts in Care homes and Hospitals across the UK
- Christmas lunches at Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham, Plymouth
- Afternoon tea parties with entertainment at Leeds Castle, Taunton, York and Cambridge.
- Numerous outings/visits to Sporting & Cultural events – including a Battlefield tour, Trooping the Colour, Highgrove Gardens, Bluebell railway, A Boat Trip on the Solent, Ascot, Wimbledon, Twickenham to name a few.
- Respite holidays to Majorca (3 x 1 week) and Southern France (1 week)
- 2 Royal parties – Summer Garden party at Buckingham Palace and Christmas Party at St James’s Palace
- Individual holiday grants
- Challenge
activities including Adaptive Skiing at the Breckenridge Outdoor Education
Centre, Colorado, Alpine Canoeing in France, Carp fishing Weekends, Israeli
Veterans Games, Trek and ascent of Mount Triglav, and an activities weekend at
Bradenham Manor.
- The provision of a Television, a TV licence or Computer tablet to those beneficiaries that have limited mobility and are unable to attend our events. This is aimed at combating social and digital isolation of beneficiaries.
‘The Not Forgotten’ has helped many hundreds of thousands of eligible beneficiaries during the past 100 years. An organisation that does not judge and importantly believes in helping a beneficiary through enduring support rather than a ‘quick fix’. A sample of some of the positive feedback we regularly receive:-
“what makes The Not Forgotten stand out is that they will give you a challenge; they take you out of your comfort zone and push you to do things you hadn’t ever imagined doing. Whether it’s taking younger injured veterans or injured serving service personnel skiing. Or taking Normandy veterans back to the beaches where they landed in 1944 – everything is done with love, compassion and a cheeky smile. The Not Forgotten brings you into their family and makes you feel human again. Put simply, without The Not Forgotten, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” – Afghanistan Veteran
“I
never thought retirement could be so full of life. The Not Forgotten has given
me so many opportunities to meet other veterans, young and old, and I have made
so many good memories” – World War II Veteran.
“There have been moments this week that I have felt completely normal, like before I was diagnosed. I have felt relaxed and positive for the first time in months – Iraq veteran“From the moment your invitation arrived in March, they have been planning and working towards this date. I called in to see Evie on Friday afternoon; taking her age aside; she was as bright as a button and chattering nineteen to the dozen of her experiences at the Palace” – Beneficiary Chaperone