We will be giving out grants amounting to about £900K at the end of September, thanks to the support many of you give to the VF, and I am glad to say that we have plenty of applications from charities and organisations carrying out charitable actions. Given the events that unfolded in Afghanistan over the past few weeks, some of these charities will be busy providing support to veterans who experience challenges to their day-to-day lives as a result of memories of their service there that have been reawoken. I hope the charities apply for grants if they need them.
As usual, there is a broad cross-section of organisations that are applying for grants and you will hear more about them in my next newsletter, once the awards have been made. The next deadline for grant applications is mid-November, so please get in contact with charities that you know who might benefit from a grant in time for that deadline.
The Veterans’ Lottery has grown rapidly and now we have some 70,000 subscribers; remarkably, it continued to grow during the pandemic. That growth does mean we can support many, mainly small and medium-sized charities, and other organisations. However, we are initiating a variety of new activities, which we hope means that we can help more of the armed forces community who are in need. Firstly, the Memorial Wall that will enable us all to remember online our heroes and friends or relatives who have served. You will see the links to the Memorial Wall when you land on our website. Please have a look at the Memorial Wall, as well as give your feedback so we can refine it and make it as respectful as we can make it.
We are also doing more to attract donations and I am delighted to say that we already have some very welcome corporate donations, on top of the many individual donations we have received over the years. We will tell you more about those in due course, but if you are linked to a business and would like to support the Veterans’ Foundation, we’d make you very welcome. Up to now, 100% of donations, less for part of specific corporate donations, have been passed to the charities and charitable organisations that apply for grants.
Thank you for your wonderful support.
