THE QUEEN WILL VISIT THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION INDUSTRIES VILLAGE, KENT
Wednesday 6th November 2019
Her Majesty The Queen will visit the Royal British Legion Industries village in Kent on Wednesday, 6th November 2019, to celebrate the charity’s centenary year. The Queen will officially open the new Appleton Lodge care facility and visit the Centenary Village housing project for veterans and their families, marking the beginning of the next stage of its development.
Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) is a national charity supporting Armed Forces personnel and veterans and their families, as well as those with a disability and people who have been long-term unemployed. The charity provides crucial support through accommodation, welfare, training and employment.
At RBLI’s Appleton Lodge, named after WWI frontline nurse Edith Appleton, Her Majesty will see how the new development has been designed to provide high quality care to 15 residents, as well as offering day care for locals who need support with health, nutritional, social and daily living needs. During the visit, the Queen will see how residents are benefitting from the recreational and social activities on offer, including arts & crafts, flower arranging and reading sessions with local schoolchildren. The Queen will meet RBLI village’s eldest resident, 99-year old WWII veteran John Riggs, and his family. Her Majesty will unveil a plaque to officially open the facility.
The Queen will also visit the RBLI Centenary Village, to see the completed first phase of the development, which includes 24 specially-adapted apartments for wounded former military personnel. Her Majesty will be shown plans for the next phase, which will support hundreds of ex-servicemen and women into the future.
Her Majesty will meet village residents and staff of the on-site social enterprise, ‘Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company’ and join a lunch celebration for the charity’s 100th anniversary. The Queen will bury a time capsule at the Centenary Village to commemorate the visit, to be opened in 100 years by future residents.
