Do you know any Dunkirk veterans? If so you need to read this article!
We have just discovered the existence of a special pot of money held in a charitable trust called the 1940 Dunkirk Veterans Association. Although this fund was closed in June 2000 it has now been transferred to the 1940 Dunkirk Veterans Memorial Trust Fund. It is administered by the Royal British Legion and the trustees have to manage it as a ring fenced pot. This means they can only use it to assist Dunkirk Veterans ie
• Ex service personnel who served in the British Expeditionary Force in France at Dunkirk, the adjacent beaches or other ports of evacuation between 10 May 1940 and 30 June 1940
• Royal Navy personnel who took part in the evacuation and their widows, widowers or dependants
• Royal Air Force personnel who took part in the evacuation and their widows, widowers or dependants
The pot of money is to be used to alleviate the need, hardship or distress of any of these the Dunkirk Veterans.
In addition to grants a widow or widower would be eligible to receive a one of widow/er’s grant of £75, following the death of their spouse, if a death certificate can be provided to the Royal British Legion.
The pot of money the Royal British Legion has does need to be spent and the number of people who can benefit from this pot is falling. If the specific fund is not used for Dunkirk Veterans it will fall into the Royal British Legion general funding pot on a specified date.
If you know of Dunkirk veterans it would be worth contacting the Royal British Legion to see whether they could use these funds to provide financial support. With the falling numbers and the balance of funds available they may be able to assist in circumstances that previously would have been refused.
To contact the Royal British Legion you can call them on 0808 802 8080 or email them on info@britishlegion.org.uk. Ask to speak to the grant funding team.
Please share this article as far as you can to make sure we reward those veterans who did the unthinkable.