Veterans’ anger as charities axe holiday centres
SECOND World War veterans have accused service charities of ‘betrayal’ over their decision to close seven respite care and holiday homes in the UK – despite sitting on tens of millions of pounds in reserves.
RAF charities and the Royal British Legion have blamed the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic for the decision to shut much-loved residential venues in seaside resorts such as Weston-super-Mare.
The homes provide old soldiers, sailors and airmen and their families with holiday destinations across the UK with service-themed entertainment in the evenings.
Princess Marina House near Worthing, run by the RAF Benevolent Fund, celebrated its 50th anniversary only last year and was a favourite with pilots and aircrew who defeated Hitler’s Luftwaffe. The home on the Sussex seafront also ran outreach services for elderly housebound veterans, such as 99-year-old former RAF radio operator Stanley Northeast, who relied on its food parcels during the lockdown. He had hoped to hold his 100th birthday party there next March so was devastated to learn last week that the RAF Benevolent Fund, which according to Charity Commission documents has assets of £43.2million and long-term investments of £83.3 million, will not reopen Princess Marina House after the lockdown.
In a letter to Stanley’s son Mike Northeast, charity bosses claimed that Covid-19 had ‘fundamentally changed’ the operating model for Princess Marina House making its closure inevitable.
The letter read: ‘Our guests’ experience would have been vastly different to before, due to the measures we would have needed to put in place.
‘And as a responsible organisation we have a duty to our beneficiaries and supporters to spend our income effectively. To that end we are focusing on alternative support options for veterans.’
Mike Northeast told The Mail on Sunday: ‘My father is bitterly upset and feels betrayed. He is not going to be around for ever but he wanted to enjoy Princess Marina House for a while longer and he was particularly grateful for their outreach services. The charity bosses have got their priorities back to front.’
Meanwhile, a separate charity, the RAF Association, also blamed the virus for its plan to close two ‘Wings Breaks’ homes in Northumberland and Somerset used for short-stay respite care by more than 1,100 elderly ex-service personnel.
Charity Commission documents suggest the Association runs at a financial surplus of £900,000 per year, has assets of £9.5million and longterm investments of £24.1 million.
It claims the pandemic has caused a 40 per cent shortfall in its annual income of £15.6million.
Explaining its decision, the RAF Association revealed that it expected to see its income fall by £10million this year. ‘We anticipate that similar negative impacts will continue into 2021 and beyond,’ it said in a statement. ‘We have less money to spend on charitable projects than we anticipated prior to Covid-19.’
The closure of the RAF’s dedicated care homes for former flyers comes after Britain’s biggest military charity, the Royal British Legion, which has assets of £98.5million, decided in February to close four holiday homes – saving just £5.8million.