Page 78 - Bugle Spring 2024

ASSOC & WELLBEING
BULA FESTIVAL
Aldershot Military Garrison Sports Fields
A sunny August day in Aldershot was the location for the third Bula Festival. The event was conceived to encourage serving and veteran Fijians and family to celebrate their culture and service in the UK military.
It was extremely well organised in a large, gated area of the garrison sports fields. On the day I attended there were over 2,000 people there, and I can’t recall seeing so many children of serving soldiers running around having great care-free fun and really enjoying themselves. The guest of Honour was the Fiji High Commissioner.
Typically, a feature of the festival was the sevens competition, involving many regimental sides and Fijian clubs. Unsurprisingly, the standard played was exceptional and
very entertaining as a sporting spectacle. Although I didn’t see a RIFLES side competing, it’s definitely food for thought for August 2024. As a special feature, some beautiful Fijian singing resonated throughout the day.
There were also a great number of non-Fijian serving personnel and veterans in attendance with their families, which I will look to advertise on SWIFT and the regiment’s social media platforms in the coming months, ahead of the 2024 event.
FIELD OF REMEMBRANCE – WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
This year’s event was well attended by veterans and several serving Riflemen,
with WO2 Paul Goldsmith and Sgt Pat Cody representing the regiment at the plot. Queen Camilla was inspecting the guardians and always makes a great point of taking an interest in The Rifles plot. Approximately twenty veterans, including veteran Chelsea Pensioners, engaged in a splendid lunch
at a local watering hole round the corner afterwards.
XMAS GRANTS: VETERAN CHELSEA PENSIONERS
Veteran, Mrs Jo Jackson-Wyatt (and also RIFLES Regional Secretary for London and the South) and I had the great privilege to visit all our veteran Chelsea Pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea and give them their annual Christmas grant from RHQ. Four of our nine resident veterans able to attend, and it was special to meet and listen to their stories of service.
78 RIFLES The Bugle
Cenotaph, London
This year’s event was set against a heavy police presence and passed off with the usual precision, pomp, and pride. The Rifles’ numbers were down slightly on last year’s attendance but still a great day for the veterans to take part in.