Veterans Aid
Veterans Aid is a UK charity providing support to ex-servicemen and women (Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army, RAF or Merchant Navy), and their widows and widowers. It operates from two locations: a Drop-in Centre/Head Office in central London (Victoria) and a residential home (New Belvedere House) in east London (Stepney). The charity's core business is averting and/or addressing the crisis, particularly where it threatens to lead to homelessness. History Veterans Aid was established in 1932 (designated originally as EFC – The Embankment Fellowship Centre) as a direct response to the homelessness caused by poverty and unemployment among the ex-service community in London. It was founded by Mrs Gwendoline Huggins, whose husband was Adjutant of The Royal Hospital Chelsea from 1932–35. Moved by the sight of men who had served their country sleeping on the capital’s streets and along the Thames Embankment, she decided to do something practical to remedy it. This led to the opening in January 1932 of H10, a canteen and recreation room for destitute ex-services personnel in Lambeth, South London. In 2007 the charity was renamed Veterans Aid, and its remit extended from homelessness to all issues affecting veterans in crisis. The charity's patron is the Dowager