

On Friday 31st March, RBLI hosted the Declaration Ceremony of the High Sheriff of Kent 2023, Nadra Ahmed CBE DL, on our village in Aylesford; celebrating the dedication and impact she has made within the care industry and to RBLI. Driven to ensure the delivery of quality services to the most vulnerable members of our society, Nadra committed her term as High Sheriff to the theme of ‘Quality Services for Vulnerable People’, in which she will focus on supporting the care sector, victims of abuse, women and girls, those experiencing homelessness and veterans of the British Armed Forces. We are honoured to have hosted this fantastic event celebrating Nadra’s achievements and her new High Sheriff of Kent title. Congratulations Nadra.
We wanted this years’ Great Tommy Sleep Out to be the best year yet, and the fundraising team have absolutely smashed it out of the park once again; raising over £430,000 for homeless veterans across the country.
As part of the campaign, high ranking businessmen and women including RBLI Chairman, Steve Rowbotham, took part in The Chairman’s Great Tommy Sleep Out; raising an incredible £32,408 alone! The evening was set at Fort Amherst in Chatham, and participants built their own shelters with nothing but cardboard and tarpaulin. Later in the evening, they attended a ghost tour around the grounds before sleeping throughout the night in the cold and wet. Thank you to everyone who supported The Great Tommy Sleep Out 2023!
Massive congratulations to all our Team Brave runners for completing the London Landmarks
Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd April! Numerous volunteers representing RBLI attended the event to cheer on our 70 runners, and thanks to their efforts, as well as our Team Brave runners and all of those who donated, we raised a massive £24,166.
We are thrilled to announce that RBLI have been selected for the KM Media Group’s ‘Homes for Heroes’ campaign; supporting our mission to complete our Centenary Village to provide homes and ongoing welfare support to disadvantaged veterans, with numerous articles to be released to the KM’s committed readers, listeners and viewers.
KM Media Group’s editorial director, Ian Carter, explained why the KM are proudly supporting the campaign, commenting; “We’re incredibly proud of RBLI’s Kent links and in awe of the amazing work they do there. Looking after those men and women who gave so much, is as noble an endeavour as there is. We’re delighted to support the charity and call on the great Kent public to help them raise that final £100,000.”
The first KM piece takes a look at Tommy Club Founding Patron and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers veteran, Raj Bisram.
Signing up to the Armed Forces in 1973 at the age of 17, Raj served in the military for 4 years before opening his antiques business and becoming a TV personality.
Raj comments; “Really we shouldn’t need to be raising money - I believe the Government should be paying for all this. After all, if you are a soldier prepared to give up your life for your country, the least the Government should do is look after you and your family if you get hurt.”
Read the full article here, and keep an eye out for further articles over the coming weeks.
RBLI had the pleasure of welcoming members of National Highways’ supply chain to RBLI’s village today, where they visited Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company and met several veterans living and working in our thriving community in Aylesford.
Last year, members of National Highways’ supply chain purchased £800,000 worth of road signs from Royal British Legion Industries; and during their visit today, it was announced that they would pledge £1,000,000 for this year; further supporting our Armed Forces veterans and those living with disabilities with employment producing signage at BBMC. We have extended a big thank you to Malcolm Dare FCIPS and all of National Highways and the members of their supply chain including Chevron Traffic Management, Amey, Ringway, Colas Ltd, Eurovia, Highway Traffic Management and HW Martin Traffic Management Limited for their efforts in supporting our veterans, and we look forward to working with them throughout 2023 and beyond.
Graphic designer and pioneer in road sign designs, Margaret Calvert, has created a new art exhibition entitled ‘Roadworks’; in which three of her new pieces were created to her design by veterans working at BBMC.
Simon Morgan, Chairman at Buchanan Computing who recreated and exported the required digital formats said: “We were delighted to be working with Margaret again for this exciting exhibition and had no hesitation in recommending BBMC for the manufacturing, a task they completed swiftly and expertly.”
RBLI’s online shop has been helping people and communities across the UK to prepare for the coronation of King Charles III through the supply of decorative products including lamp post signs, flags, magnets and pins. SBMC has been delighted to get involved by producing 3,000 lamp post signs and dispatching them in quick order to help the shop keep up with demand in March.
Ashton Wilson is one of RBLI’s most committed supporters of The Great Tommy Sleep Out, and was well over a month into his sleep out when he popped into SBMC to meet the team for a second time. As a way of thanking Ashton for his efforts, the SBMC team presented him with a large Tommy to stand sentry over his tent.
SBMC were delighted to pick up another series of signs to manufacture for the offshore industry in Scotland. On his first visit to SBMC, RBLI’s Director of Operations, Ghalume Obi, observed the unique layering-up process led by David Kesson. The completed sign was delivered in triplicate to the customer in Aberdeen ahead of schedule.
SBMC has been successful in a funding application to the Scottish Government’s Scottish Veterans Fund for the development and trial of a new 22-month SBMC Traineeship. The funding is £50,000 per year for 3 years and will support our mission in providing fulfilling careers to veterans looking for work following their military service.
Occupancy in RBLI’s Living department has been at an all-time high, ending 2022 with QEC at 100% capacity, Mountbatten at 96%, and hopes to fill Greenwich House to 100% by the end of April.
There have been many celebrations and activities which have taken place at our care homes this month including St Patrick’s Day and an afternoon tea for Mother’s Day. Last week, residents of Bradbury House even enjoyed a performance from a live singer who covered songs including Sweet Caroline, YMCA and We’ll Meet Again.
RBLI has signed a block funding contract with the NHS to provide four fully furnished apartments at Greenwich House for patients admitted from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and who are ready to move back into independent or residential living.
Terance O’Grady, 66, was struggling to get out of bed while living in a bedsit with buckets catching drips from a leaky ceiling and no television for entertainment. Sharing a toilet and shower with other residents was also challenging for Terry, who described his experience as “pure hell” as he heard loud banging, shouting, and screaming almost every night. Such poor living conditions would have a huge impact on anyone’s physical and mental wellbeing, let alone for someone living with a terminal condition, like Terry.
Following a 3-week stay at Maidstone Hospital when his condition deteriorated, Terry was moved directly into one of the NHS flats at Greenwich House, where he met Donna Sears; a Team Leader providing care for residents living at RBLI’s assisted living facilities in Aylesford. Donna explains that when she first met Terry, he was very low and was getting confused with his medication.
Terry soon started to go on walks, do his own shopping, and even started cooking his own meals at home. Despite his father having served in the Air Corps, Terry had no knowledge of Greenwich House before moving in, but immediately felt at home after just a few days thanks to RBLI’s care team. Terry said, “If you’re not happy then you’re not going to feel too good, are you? I’m absolutely over the moon with this place and all of the people.”
It is with great sadness that Terry has since passed away; but we are so proud to have helped make his final few months more comfortable.
13 MARCH
Minister for Veterans Affairs, Johnny Mercer, visit
22 MARCH
AQA Awards at Aylesford School
23 MARCH
Malcolm Dare/National Highways supply chain visit
23 MARCH
The Chairman’s Great Tommy Sleep Out
SBB
28 MARCH Recruitment Day at RBLI
30 MARCH
Lifeworks attend the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch
31 MARCH
Executive Assistant to Director of Fundraising & Marketing
Senior Communications Manager
BBMC
Job Coach
Contact rena.patel@rbli.co.uk for more information.
Senior Leadership Team
Michelle York - Managing Director of Social Enterprises
Louise Gibson - Director of Fundraising & Marketing
Finance & Performance
Des Enrich - Interim Finance Manager
RBLI Living
Andrew Good - Grounds
Maintenance Operative
Katie Blackwell - Healthcare Assistant
Conna Underhill - Healthcare Assistant
Senior Leadership Team
Coralie Holman - Assistant Director of Estates, Housing & Welfare
Richard James - Director of Finance
SBMC
Stewart McMillan - Manufacturing Operative
SBB
Alison Nurthen - Database Manager
SBB (Employment Solutions)
Trevor Bond - Progression Coach
Kerine Brown - Progression Coach
David Hyams – Community Connector
Mark James – Employment Advisor
Michael Laws - Progression Coach
Mark Marshall - Progression Coach
Jon Ramage - Community Connector
Scott Rooney – Deputy Project Manager
SBB (Access to Work)
Paul Hewitt - Database Manager
RBLI Living
Andy Williams - Registered Manager
Jane Davies - Healthcare Assistant
Matt Donn - Healthcare Assistant
Mark Rickards – Clinical Manager
Paul Simmons - RGN
Scott Gillham - from Risk & Compliance Lead to Assistant Director of Risk & Compliance
Karen Ravencroft - from Senior Sales Executive to Head of Sales - Scotland
April is Stress Awareness Month; a time to reflect on what makes us stressed and what we can do to manage our own mental health and improve the welfare of others around us. As a charity supporting people with mental health issues including PTSD, we know the importance of creating a safe and supportive atmosphere.
We are pleased to launch the Ihasco training where we have organised three modules of online awareness training for all staff to complete over the next few months.
To coincide with Stress Awareness Month, the first training we are rolling out is Stress Awareness which takes about 35 minutes to complete. For those of you enrolled on the training via your RBLI email, you will have received an email from Ihasco. For some colleagues in our factories and other areas,
RBLI have a number of trained Mental Health
First Aiders if you ever need a chat or a listening ear. Mental Health First Aiders are trained to spot early signs and symptoms of mental ill-health (when you may not even be aware yourself) and will make time to have a supportive conversation with you and listen to you without judgment. Each MHFA will wear a green lanyard as shown in the image to the right; so if you ever forget who you can go to, please keep a look out for this indicator.
we are arranging some small group sessions so that you can watch the training, with any additional support you may need.
Paul Wratten
Lisa McAllen
Kerry Locke
Cara Randall
Nigel Field
Alex Brown
Julia Moorhoouse
Julie Scott
Michelle Hartley
Tim Brown
Sunitta Sian
Maria Gallego
Jo Billingham-Smith
Karen McCarthy
Sarah Mutter
Molly Malcolm
Violet Curtis
Jess Wherry
Jane Holden
Look out for Mental Health First Aider LanyardsTo help you find out more about how our MHFA can help you, we are holding some `Meet our MHFA’ sessions where you can drop in and meet some of the team. For some, you can just turn up, but we do recommend you call first to check they are free speak to you.
19th April
13.00 to 17.00 (call first)
Lisa McAllen
Meeting Room
T: 01622 795901 | Ext 3201 | M: 07837 392911
24th April
14.00 to 16.00 (call first)
Jo Billingham-Smith
Meeting Room
T: 01622 795985 | Ext 3285
26th April
11.00 to 13.00 (call first)
Karen McCarthy
Teams or Call
T: 01622 795981 | M: 07803 413212
27th April
14.00 to 16.00
Alex Brown (call first)
QEC/Bradbury House
M: 07500 602043
C o n n e c t w i t h p e o p l e – c h e c k i n w i t h y o u r s u p p o r t n e t w o r k ; a r e t h e y o k , a r e y o u o k ? P i c k u p t h e p h o n e a n d f i n d o u t ! A s k f o r h e l p i f y o u n e e d i t – i t ’ s O K n o t t o b e O K
P e r f o r m a r a n d o m a c t o f k i n d n e s s – i t ’ s n i c e t o b e n i c e
L e a r n a n e w b r e a t h i n g t e c h n i q u e ; b o x b r e a t h i n g , t h e 7 / 1 1 , b a b y b r e a t h – f i n d o n e t h a t w o r k s f o r y o u a n d a d d i t t o y o u r t o o l b o x B e k i n d t o y o u r s e l f , t a k e t i m e o u t f o r s e l f - c a r e a n d e x e r c i s e – i t ’ s l i k e t h e o x y g e n m a s k o n t h e p l a n e ; p u t y o u r s o n f i r s t a n d y o u ’ l l b e i n a b e t t e r p o s i t i o n t o h e l p o t h e r s
W r i t e a g r a t i t u d e l e t t e r W h a t a r e y o u g r a t e f u l f o r ? W h a t d i d y o u t a k e f o r g r a n t e d a n d r e a l l y a p p r e c i a t e ? E v e n j u s t w r i t i n g d o w n 3 p o s i t i v e e x p e r i e n c e s t h a t h a v e h a p p e n e d t o y o u e v e r y d a y W r i t e d o w n y o u r s t r e n g t h s : w h a t a r e s o m e o f t h e t h i n g s p e o p l e h a v e s a i d a b o u t y o u t h a t h a v e m a d e y o u f e e l g o o d , s t r o n g a n d e l a t e d ?
G e t y o u r s l e e p h y g i e n e s o r t e d : h a v e a b a t h , w i n d d o w n , m i n i m i s e s c r e e n t i m e , t a l k a b o u t h o w y o u f e e l , e a t g o o d f o o d r e g u l a r l y D i g i t a l D e t o x – C o u l d y o u m a k e y o u r b e d r o o m a ' t e c h - f r e e z o n e ? M a k e s u r e b e f o r e b e d t o d o s o m e t h i n g t h a t d o e s n ’ t i n v o l v e a s c r e e n t o a l l o w y o u t o d i s c o n n e c t f r o m t h e ‘ a l w a y s o n ’ w o r l d w e ’ r e c u r r e n t l y l i v i n g i n
R e d u c e y o u r s u g a r c o n s u m p t i o n t o a v o i d e n e r g y c r a s h e s S t i m u l a n t s l i k e n i c o t i n e a n d c a f f e i n e s h o u l d b e a v o i d e d K e e p h y d r a t e d D r i n k p l e n t y o f w a t e r t h r o u g h o u t t h e d a y , a n d a v o i d t h a t v i c i o u s c y c l e ; t h i r s t y b e c a u s e y o u ’ r e s t r e s s e d a n d s t r e s s e d b e c a u s e y o u ' r e t h i r s t y
B e s t r i c t w i t h y o u r b o u n d a r i e s ; w o r k i s w o r k a n d l i f e i s l i f e – m a k e s u r e t o s c h e d u l e t i m e f o r d o i n g t h i n g s f o r y o u r s e l f
P r i o r i t i s e y o u r m o s t i m p o r t a n t t a s k s a n d p r o j e c t s e a r l i e r i n t h e d a y D e l e g a t e t h e t h i n g s y o u d o n o t h a v e t o d o y o u r s e l f
Many of us often feel stuck in the office with countless meetings and an unforgiving workload; creating huge pressure on our mental health. Stepping outside and having a walk and talk meeting in the fresh air can make all the difference to your wellbeing at work. With summer on its way, we encourage everyone to spend more time outside, utilising the sunshine and having walking meetings which can include one-to-ones, campaign updates and future strategy planning.
The award for January goes to Business Manager, Jayde Botten, who has made quite an impact since joining RBLI in June of last year. Jayde stepped up at a particularly busy time in Finance ensuring that budgets and year end reports were completed for the SLT and Heads of Department.
This was her first time completing these key activities for RBLI and delivered on them despite the considerable time pressure. Jayde remained calm and effective throughout and achieved all that was asked of her.
Every two months, a number of employees at Royal British Legion Industries meet to discuss how we can all help shape the future of the charity; focusing on people being our biggest investment. Within the employee forum, discussions are made on the development of RBLI, with ongoing actions to be implemented across the organisation.
In the latest Employee Forum on 22nd March, the team discussed the action points from the last meeting, Stress Awareness Month (April), a staff Quiz Night on 19th May at Capel Morris, a Coronation Tommy Tea on 5th May and Coronation BBQ on Friday 5th May (collect your wristband for entry at reception before Friday 28th April).
The group regularly discuss items including the upcoming RBLI Values, instant rewards, employee of the month, events and mental health, including the committee for mental health first aiders and general mental health awareness.
Jayde Botten awarded Employee of the MonthDescribe your role at RBLI.
I am one of the Community & Event Fundraising Managers here at RBLI. As part of the fundraising team, my role consists of bringing in unrestricted income for the charity. I’m responsible for looking after some of the virtual challenges we do such as 10,000 Steps, Virtual Tommy 10K and the upcoming Coronation Challenge. I also manage other fundraising campaigns including skydives and running events.
What is your favourite/funniest RBLI memory and why?
My favourite RBLI memory has to be the first London Landmarks Half Marathon cheer station. It was the first thing that I lead on when joining RBLI and the day was an absolute blast! Our cheer station was touted as being one of the best along the route, with so much energy being put in by volunteers and our Team Brave runners alike.
If you were Prime Minister for a day, what would be the first thing you’d do?
Well, If I was Prime Minister for a day, the first thing I would probably do would be something completely stupid like rewriting the entire budget to allocate a large proportion of the nation’s wealth to figure out how to make a real lightsaber or something… whilst in the budget, maybe add a nice line in for RBLI too.
What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?
Probably dress up as a penguin to advertise an event; staring in a ‘day in the life of a penguin’ video and post it online for all my friends, family and colleagues to see. Not to mention thousands of other people too.
What are you most looking forward to about summer?
Sitting out in the sun on a scorcher of a day either in a pub garden, by the seaside or in the back garden with the BBQ going.
15 members of the RBLI team received instant rewards over the course of March; receiving £25 Love2Shop vouchers for going above and beyond. Here’s why they were nominated by their colleagues:
Mandy had worked really hard with the mail merge piece of work, continued to go above and beyond for the team to achieve the outcome numbers we need, she always has a smile on her face and still helps anyone in the office if we need any assistance.
For stepping in at end of the working day to help a colleague complete an essential piece of work for the values. Jo offered to help when busy herself and provided some fantastic ideas and input. She willingly stayed late to help complete the task and showed a great collaborative and team spirited attitude and added value to the final piece of work.
1. For helping with setting up the village meeting and staying behind to assist with tidying up and locking up. In addition he assisted with the arrival of AA for one of our pool cars. James was running between the two car and village meeting.
2. With the office move, we could not fit with the desks we had, James installed 4 of the desks on the same day to ensure we were not impacted too much and could continue with our work, he did this with minimum help. He also stayed behind Friday after 4pm to ensure the desks were completed before the return of a colleague on Monday and Director of Fundraising and Marketing’s first day.
3. For going above and beyond in assisting the Fundraising Team at the Chairman’s Sleep Out- assisting in preparation before the event, set up and set down as well as taking part in the event itself, providing support top staff and participants through out the evening.
For investigating our new phones in his own time to find out how we can pick up calls from other phones. Adam supplied us with simple instructions on how to do this. It removed the risk of the sales office losing calls or potential sales and ensures there is no detrimental impact on the customer service we strive to provide.
He has completed excellent work at the end of the year stock take in the fulfillment team and was commended by finance for his hard work.
Jo consistently goes above and beyond to help the fulfillment team. She is always listening to their wants and needs and contributes greatly to the wellbeing of the team. She goes far beyond the remit of her role, spending her own time and resources to ensure they are supported.
For delivering an outstanding Chairman’s Sleep Out exceeding targets set and ensuring that the participants had a fantastic experience on the evening and leaving a great impression of RBLI.
For being in attendance covering the Social Media throughout the evening and the following morning of The Chairman’s Great Tommy Sleep Out, and also providing support to the participants and staff where needed, including helping with the pack down.
For going above and beyond normal expectations of their job role- staying onsite at the Chairman’s sleep out overnight and looking after our participants throughout the night making tea at 3am. Also for being involved in the set up right through to set down and driving the van.
Cameron has been working for many months on data integration work, including finding and evaluating varied solutions, specifically to help the fundraising team consolidate donors activity and fundraising for varied sources and events.
The team were tasked with preparing and submitting 240 completed reports on March 3rd. The team rallied and whilst ensuring the day job was also completed; smashed the target by returning 250 reports in a single day (the normal is approx. 60). The team pulled together and by working closely together ensured the reports were submitted in between booking appointments and responding to customers and Access to Work. This was a herculean effort by all members of the team and I would like, on this occasion, to reward them and show them that their efforts are very much appreciated.
You too can nominate your peers for an instant reward by requesting a form from our HR team and submitting it to the line manager of your chosen nominee.
Tommy Club Founding Patron and retired Army Major, Brendan Touhey, carried Tommy to Mount Everest Base Camp recently! On route, Brendan and Tommy reached the highest Irish pub in the world before reaching the 17,600 ft destination. Congratulations Brendan!
The Big Curry Lunch on 30th March was a fantastic event; bringing together numerous charities and organisations who share our mission to provide employment support to disadvantaged veterans looking for work following their military service. With so many great discussions had, our Lifeworks team joined ABF The Soldiers’ Charity in another impactful day supporting our nation’s heroes.
A number of students at Aylesford School received their well-earned certificates at the AQA Awards; following their fantastic achievements in poetry and reading. These promising young students took part in RBLI’s intergenerational project with Housing 21; bringing together Armed Forces veterans living on our village in Aylesford and the younger generation who wish to express themselves through their love of poetry and reading.
Friday 5th May, 12noon - 3pm
Pop along for BBQ food and light entertainment to celebrate the Coronation together
Everyone wishing to attend and eat will need to come and collect a wristband from reception before Friday 28th April
Event date: 14th - 16th July
Location: Aylesford to Ypres
Sign Up: rbli.co.uk/cycle-ride
Ride to the Menin Gate for RBLI in 2023! We’ll be starting at Aylesford in Kent to do 2 days of riding, finishing at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. This is a fully supported charity bike ride and the entry fee covers your accommodation for two nights, a branded cycling jersey and polo shirt, lunches and refreshments en-route and a celebration dinner on the final night. You will be looked after by our professional ride captains, support vehicles, motorcycle outriders, medics and mechanics who will all ensure you have a memorable time and an emotional experience with great camaraderie, food and pit stops. Sign up today!
10% STAFF DISCOUNT USING THE CODE ‘RBLISTAFF10’ VISIT US ONLINE TO SEE THE FULL COLLECTION AT RBLI.SHOP