A 100-year-old charity for Commonwealth veterans has announced it plans to close in the next decade when its last surviving beneficiaries die.
The Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL) has been distributing money to pre-independence ex-service men and women across the Commonwealth since 1921.
Using a network of ex-service representatives, they aim to provide two meals a day to Commonwealth veterans who served the Crown, or their widows, who are living in poverty overseas.
With many of its beneficiaries now in their 90s or older, the RCEL plans to close in the next ten years when its last surviving beneficiaries die.
Grant funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is due to end in March 2024.
Though it plans to close within ten years, the charity is calling for additional financial support to prevent many of its beneficiaries from dying “malnourished and in poverty”.
Government funding to end in 2024
More than 4.4 million Commonwealth service men and women from the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Caribbean fought in the Second World War, with 360,000 casualties.
This year the RCEL has assisted 5,000 veterans and widows across 37 countries including Commonwealth nations and former Commonwealth countries pre-independence, via caseworkers who conduct assessments and distribute welfare support.
Chris Warren,secretary general of the RCEL, said grant funding from the FCDO is due to end in March 2024 despite the charity still having “vital work to do”.
“In many ways, our work is more important than ever, with our beneficiaries entering the evening of their lives. Until the last one dies, in partnership with the service charities, and we hope an extension to the programme for government funding we will work to ensure that no resident overseas who has served in our armed forces does not have sufficient to eat.
“Without additional financial support, the consequences will mean that many, with over half being widows, will die malnourished and in poverty. They came to support us in our hour of need, and we must continue to remember them in their hour of need.
“We must continue to work towards prevention of starvation, malnutrition and to improve their quality of life through a healthy diet. The WWII generation are aging and in need of support due to few countries having a national health system similar to our NHS. The need to provide certainty with the provision of food to some of the most disadvantaged in the world is perhaps more important now than it was when we started out 100 years ago.”
Warren also paid tribute to the Queen, a patron of the charity, saying she “showed a personal interest throughout her life and there is no doubt her involvement has helped to lift tens of thousands of veterans out of poverty.”
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