£18,000 boost for Broughton House from RAF fund

Care home for ex-servicemen and women, Broughton House, have been awarded a cash boost in the sum of £18,000 from the RAF Benevolent Fund.

The fund is a welfare charity which supports current and former members of the service, their partners and dependants. 

Broughton House has cared for 23 former RAF personnel over the past year.

The charity believe that ‘all veterans and their families should live with support, friendship and dignity’.

The home currently receives funding from the local authority, however, they still have to find an additional £300 per week, per resident.

Fundraising and Marketing manager at Broughton House, Rhys Edwards, has said: “The support of the RAF Benevolent Fund ensures that residents who have previously served with the RAF are able to spend their later years in comfort and with dignity among their peers.

“It also ensures that we can continue to support the ever-growing demand from the younger serving and ex-serving military community through our Armed Forces Support Hub.

“We’re extremely grateful to the RAF Benevolent Fund for the grant, which will have a real impact on the care we provide.”

Broughton House was founded in 1916 by William Coates – a surgeon in the Boer War, set up the Volunteer Medical Staff CORPS and founded the British Red Cross in East Lancashire.

A century after Coates first founded the charity, Broughton House has cared for over 8,000 veterans, today, caring for over 40.

Paul Hughesdon, director of Welfare and Policy at the RAF Benevolent Fund said: “Broughton House offers invaluable support for RAF veterans in their twilight years, as well as veterans from other Armed Forces, so it’s a pleasure to give our backing to this honourable cause.

“This work echoes the fund’s commitment to caring for all Royal Air Force veterans, as well as their partners.”

Broughton House recently unveiled their ‘Buy a Brick’ campaign in a bid to raise the last of the £1,000,000 needed to start building works on the UK’s first Veteran Care Village. Prices of the ‘bricks’ start from £20 going all the way up to £25,000.