Page 67 - QDG Year of 2020

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
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As you have read, your support is vital in assisting those comrades, serving and retired, or their immediate families that find themselves in times of need. If you know of anybody who is struggling, be that mentally, physically or finan- cially then please contact HHQ in the first instance, all information is treated in confidence and with discretion. HHQ can’t financially assist individuals directly, all Regimental and Corp Benevolence Funds utilise the services of SSAFA and RBL caseworkers, most of whom are volunteers. These organisations are currently struggling with a lack of case-
workers and mentors, if you find yourself with some spare time and would wish to volunteer please contact us at HHQ for further information.
To finish I would like to thank all who have supported the HHQ team over this difficult and challenging year, if you have any queries or questions please don’t hesitate in contacting the team, or once our lockdowns are lifted if you find yourself in Cardiff pop in for a cup of tea and a chat.
MLH
Benny, saluting in style!
Regimental Trust
The last non-virtual Trustees’ meeting was in Robertson Barracks on 20 November 2019, when it was envisaged that the Trust would be able to support a wide range of activities that the Regiment was planning. These included skiing and a number of sports tours. Unfortunately and not surprisingly, these activities were Covid casualties and the biggest call on the Trust by the Regiment was to assist in upgrading the QDG sportswear. The Trust agreed to top up personal contributions to enable everyone to get the new style kit in the first order.
However, the Trust has made some good progress on the heritage assets although Covid measures restricted access to the messes. Some of the restoration programme has therefore had to be delayed. The team from the Museum had fortuitously visited Robertson Barracks just before lockdown and this enabled the exercise to transfer heritage assets from the messes to the Trust to continue as planned. The Corporals Mess Heritage assets were gifted to the Trust and loaned back in the same way as the Officers’ Mess and the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess had been previ- ously. For the latter two messes, additional items acquired or found since the original deeds were executed were trans- ferred to the Trust.
The other main heritage activity, which is covered else- where in the journal, was the underwriting of the proposed new history of the Regiment since the amalgamation. The Trust has paid the author’s advance.
routine items that help improve quality of life for all ranks. Sadly, because of Covid, many of the activities that are carried out under the umbrella of the Trust through the RCA and Home Headquarters were cancelled or postponed. However work has continued behind the scenes to ensure everything is in good shape once events can start again.
For benevolence, the principal point of contact is the Regimental Secretary, and he coordinates our cases with other charities, which are mostly service ones. The majority of cases have a SSAFA case officer and overall the system works well. The Regimental Secretary has a very good working relationship with other service charities such as ABF (the Soldiers Charity), SSAFA, Help for Heroes and Blesma. They are generous in supporting our cases. During the year requests for benevolence have been running at levels slightly below average. They have not picked up because of Covid during 2020, that at least is welcome.
If any members of the Regiment were considering making a bequest or donation to the Trust, these would be gratefully received. The full name of the charity is 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards Regimental Trust, and the Charity Commis- sion Number is 274689. The Trustees would normally apply any gifts for the general benefit of the Trust, although they also maintain a restricted fund for benevolence. This is avail- able for those who might particularly wish to support that part of the Trust’s activities.
Otherwise the Trust made annual grants for a number of
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