Page 123 - The Chapka 2016

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 121 MM (27L). Afterwards we all retired to the Civil Service Club
for a lunch of Steak and Kidney Pudding.
On Remembrance Sunday 13th November, the Royal Lancers Old Comrades had a full marching contingent at the Cenotaph parade. The combined contingents of the Royal Lancers, 16/5L and 17/21L meant we managed to parade over 100 old comrades at the Cenotaph in 2016, see page 128.
The OCA Christmas lunch saw us dine again at the Union Jack Club. This again saw a good representation of OCA ties and good support from the Maidstone Branch.
Regimental Association Welfare Support to Ex-Lancers
Since last year the Regimental Trust has given £27,425 in wel- fare payments and in total generated over £65k in financial sup- port to Ex-Lancers. The Association helped 90 individuals who were all past members of the antecedent regiments of Lancers or their families. Of these 90 cases, 63 were new applicants and for the most part all requests for support were met, with the ex- ceptions of funeral costs, care homes and social debt. All case which were declined were then forwarded to the organisations who were best placed to assist them. In addition to the money provided by the Regimental Trust a further £36,143 was sourced from agencies such as the Army Benevolent Fund (ABF) and The Royal British Legion (TRBL), with the ABF being the sin- gle largest provider who matched to contribution made by the association. All the cases are referred to HHQ via either SSAFA or the TRBL and where individuals come to HHQ direct they are put in contact with SSAFA. The majority of cases were men between the ages of 40 and 65. The assistance covered a large and varied range of requests, from prison releases (2), widows and wives (24) and serving soldiers and their families (3). The area of single greatest need this year was housing: rent bonds, maintenance, removals and contents. The money that underpins the welfare payments that are distributed by HHQ comes from the ‘days giving scheme’ which is the voluntary payment made by serving officers and soldiers of the regiment. This money is used for the relief of suffering of past members of the regiment and their families. This is the tangible link from the serving reg- iment to support ex-members and binds us together as a family.
PAW
Field of Remembrance plot at Westminster Abbey
Cavalry Memorial Parade. Dick Boremand and Billy Baxter on CCOCA Duty and Colonel Shaun Longsdon LVO