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ABF The Soldiers' Charity

The Soldiers’ Charity was founded in 1944 as The Army Benevolent Fund. The demobilisation of soldiers after the two World Wars had put an enormous strain on Regimental and Corps charitable funds and highlighted the need for a national charity to give practical help to our soldiers and veterans.

How The Soldiers' Charity helps soldiers and their families

The Soldiers' Charity support the Army family by giving grants to individuals and other specialist charities that help soldiers and their families. They work with veterans from every conflict since the Second World War, including those from recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. They make grant payments within 48 hours of receipt, making a significant difference at a critical point in many lives.

The help they give includes:

• Hardship relief: debt affects many former soldiers who find themselves struggling to keep their heads above water, especially in times of high unemployment
• Mobility assistance and home modifications: to ensure soldiers and former soldiers have the opportunity to live a full life
• Education bursaries: to help soldiers train and gain skills to achieve employment once they leave the Army
• Annuities and care home fees: payable to the most vulnerable in society
• War widow and family financial support: to help soldiers’ immediate families who have suffered bereavement or who may be experiencing temporary financial difficulty
• Holiday schemes: to give a welcome break to soldiers and their families in financial difficulty who would not otherwise be able to afford to do so.

An example of an individual that The Soldiers' Charity has helped

Dean Nicholls served for eight years with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (now Royal Regiment of Wales), but was medically discharged in 1983 after suffering from a brain haemorrhage. After five years he was able to return to work and he became a postman in Pontypool. In 2001 the problem returned and he was forced to retire.  His wife died of cancer in 2004 leaving him to raise his two children, now 14 and seven (then aged eight and one), alone. Last year he suffered a blood clot in his leg which resulted in an above knee amputation. He has had problems using the prosthetic limb.  His 14 year-old son Adam now has to act as his father’s carer. Adam has ambitions to follow in his father's and his grandfather's footsteps and recently became a Cadet with the Royal Regiment of Wales.

Last summer the family was allocated a new house, more suited to Dean's disability. This family had struggled to overcome a number of problems but this was a ray of sunshine for them. The Soldiers’ Charity’s grant helped to provide essential furnishings for the new house. Happy in his new home, Dean says, "If I didn’t have people like The Soldiers’ Charity around, me and the children would have had to move into an empty (unfurnished) house. This grant was a real help, so I’m very grateful.”

Make an enquiry to The Soldiers' Charity using the Turn2us Grants Search

Date of publication: 6 September 2010