Join us LIVE over on our Facebook Page, at 10am today for an interactive Q&A with Tommy Club Founding Patron, Ash Alexander-Cooper OBE and ‘Declassified’ Podcast host, Michael Coates.

Former Gurkha officer, combat helicopter pilot and Specialist Military Unit officer, Ash is taking on a huge challenge on behalf of RBLI –  completing a full marathon by running more than 4600 lengths of his hotel quarantine room in Sydney, Australia!

Ash is completing this challenge in memory of his grandfather Flt Lt Eddie Preedy RAF, who was a navigator in 617 (Dambusters) Squadron during WW2 and to raise vital funds for the veterans supported by RBLI.

If you would like to find out more about the challenge and support Ash, please visit his JustGiving Page.

We would love to see all of your amazing Tommy gardens!

Be it a Tommy Planter, Plant Pot Tommy, Hedgehog HQ, Tommy Bench or Garden Tommy, head over to our Facebook Page by clicking the button below and comment your photo for a chance to win one of three exclusive prizes!

Why not sign up for a skydive and raise money to support our veterans. Make an unforgettable memory and experience a euphoric moment!

We have three locations to choose from including Cambridge, Headcorn and Wiltshire. The set date for 2021 is November 7^th, if you cannot make this date, fear not we can arrange a date for 2022.

Last year a 100 year old veteran jumped out of a plane to raise money for RBLI and tick another thing off his bucket list – what’s your excuse!?

Sign up by emailing kirsty.fox@rbli.co.uk or via our website 

We are so delighted that our amazing partner, Britain’s oldest brewer Shepherd Neame, have been able to open their doors again and welcome the Great British Public back!

Did you know that many of their pubs have signed up to Pennies, the Digital Charity Box where customers are invited to make a 25 pence donation to charity when they spend over £30. This simple and fantastic scheme has raised over £9,000 for our work with veterans. Now their doors are back open, every pint and every Sunday roast really does make a difference. What more excuse do you need?!

Thank you Shepherd Neame for always going the extra mile to support our work with veterans and people with disabilities, even throughout the pandemic.

RBLI

The first week of June marks the UK’s annual National Volunteers’ Week, an opportunity for organisations to publicly celebrate their volunteers.

Volunteers have made a significant contribution to RBLI for many years. The support various support from our volunteers directly impacts not only the lives of those we support but the wider community too.

Although RBLI’s Volunteering Programme is still largely scaled back in response to the Coronavirus restrictions, we have been fortunate to have some fantastic support from individuals where it has been safe to do so, ensuring that our organisation can continue to provide support to the Armed Forces community, people with disabilities and those who are out of work.

The Team at RBLI are overwhelmed by the dedication and commitment volunteers show across our organisation and would like to extend our thanks to those who have given up their time to support us.

We will be sharing our volunteering stories over on Facebook during Volunteer’s Week, make sure you take a look.

Last week RBLI celebrated #WorldBeeDay, by unveiling our new bee hives and allotment project on RBLI Village.

The Positive Pathways – Purpose, wellbeing and independence through gardening project offers veterans the chance to take up gardening, learn how to grow fresh organic fruit and vegetables and discover the art of beekeeping, hopefully produce some honey and also pollen and beeswax that will be used for cleaning and beauty products in RBLI’s own Base Camp Café.

We have opened up this opportunity to our supporters and hope to encourage everyone to come and experience some time on the allotment, from novices to keen gardeners, learn new skills and pass on knowledge with RBLI Veterans.

If you would like to volunteer your services to help with the setting up and running of the allotment, please email lisa.kempton@rbli.co.uk

This project has been funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, part of the Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing programme.

Our veterans have been very busy creating a whole new range of Tommy products to spruce up your garden this Summer.

If you haven’t already, check out the range below!

As places start to open up again, so has the events world. We finally have the go ahead to take part in live events. We have several half marathons coming up over the next few months so why not join #TeamBrave and take on a new challenge to beat the lockdown blues.

London Landmarks Half Marathon – Sunday 1 August
Hackney Half Marathon – Sunday 26 September
Royal Parks Half Marathon – Sunday 10 October

There are only a few spaces left on each event so sign up by emailing kirsty.fox@rbli.co.uk or via our website 

RBLI

RBLI are incredibly proud that Tommy Club Ambassador and England Captain Harry Kane has renewed his shirt sponsorship with Leyton Orient for the upcoming 21-22 season and has dedicated it to RBLI’s Tommy Club.  

“It’s one of the best shirts in the league for sure”
– Harry Kane

Emblazoned with the club crest, the Leyton Orient Home 2021/22 Shirt is engineered with NB DRY, which helps wick moisture away from the skin to help keep you cool no matter what’s happening on the pitch.

10% of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Tommy Club.

Funds raised will help provide the vital welfare support and employment opportunities that military veterans need to overcome challenges caused by physical or mental disability and regain their independence.

Click the button below to PRE-ORDER your Leyton Orient Tommy Club shirt from the Leyton Orient Online Store today.

Did you know it was Mental Health Awareness Week? There’s no doubt that people’s mental health has taken a toll during the pandemic, not just those of us stuck at home, but also front line workers.

For many of us, the challenges will be eased as the Nation comes out of lockdown and heads back to normality very soon. However, for some people, that might not be the end of it.

In 1919, RBLI’s focus laid with treating WW1 soldiers with tuberculosis, but in today’s world, it’s the mental wounds that are more challenging.

Our range of PTSD patches below have been given to us by one our supporters Tim Brown who got together with RBLI beneficiary Paul Sapsford who was suffering from PTSD.

RBLI set Paul on the road to recovery by putting him through a counselling course and helping him back into employment. Together they have helped us raise funds to help others in the same situation and to support veterans in employment.

Every purchase of a PTSD awareness patch not only helps to raise awareness of the condition, but it helps to fund RBLI’s work in helping veterans with the condition adapt to civilian life, and gain employment.

Thank you so much for your support of Team Tommy, Royal British Legion Industries and our veterans, over this VE Day and the Race to Victory challenge.

Together, Team Tommy completed an 868 mile journey and returned home to a triumphant welcome here on the RBLI Village in Aylesford, Kent this past Saturday, VE DAY. We started Tommy’s Race to Victory at our award winning social enterprise, Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company, in Erskine and travelled the length of the country to Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company, in Kent whilst meeting some truly inspirational WW2 veterans along the way. It was an incredible journey, often battling difficult conditions, that was only achievable because of the support and kindness of the public and communities we met along the way.

On route, the team stopped at cities and key military locations, presenting specially-made VE Day Tommy figures, made by injured veterans working in RBLI’s factories, to notable members of the local military communities. They have raised over £20,000 during their time on the road and received incredible public support along the way, meeting WW2 veterans, Cadets, community supporters, our fantastic corporate partners and event sponsors. The funds raised will go directly to supporting veterans through RBLI’s wide range of welfare, accommodation and employment support services.

If you would like to make a donation you can do so here:

Our incredibly popular range of garden products are keeping our veterans very busy indeed. Due to the popularity, we have increased our team of carpenters, who work to produce our wooden range full time so they they can reach your gardens for Summer!

If you haven’t already, check out the range below!

RBLI