The Welfare Committee is contactable by eMail: welfareofficer@londonirishrifles.com
At the current time, it is fair to say that we are currently seeing a very low volume of requests for financial support and it is possible that knowledge of our Association’s Welfare facilities is not widely known by all those who have served with the London Irish Rifles over the years and who may be eligible for current day support in cases where there is an appropriate, urgent need.
So… do please pass the message onto all your friends and former colleagues that we are always here to support you. A Welfare Committee of three senior members of the Regiment Association (the Chairman, the Vice Chairman and Treasurer) jointly review each and every request for Benevolent Fund support in a timely and efficient manner.
Applications are always treated with the utmost confidentiality and you can contact us directly via eMail: welfareofficer@londonirishrifles.com or through the website.
Lt Col Ant Maher.
WHAT DOES ‘Welfare’ mean to us?
The Oxford English Dictionary offers: “the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group” and “organised practical or financial help provided, typically by the state, to help people in need”. In the immediate and practical sense perhaps it means looking out for our friends and neighbours, since each of us should be active in ensuring the welfare of those around us. Alarmingly, recent research shows that in the UK only one in three of us knows the surname and work situation of our immediate neighbours and I’m sure an even lower proportion stands ready to lend a helping hand.
Few of us make sufficient effort to be supportive of those in need. Certainly in my case there have been long periods when paddling my own canoe has been the main concern. Recently, I have had the opportunity to make visits to two elderly people both in their mid-nineties resident in nursing homes and receiving palliative care. One is a London Irishman who served with the regiment throughout the Second World War and the other a lady who also served in uniform during that conflict. They are members of a dwindling generation who knew all about looking after others.
Those of us who follow must take up the banner. Members of the London Irish Rifles have a special extra duty in this regard. We must give support to other regimental family members as and when it is needed: it is a regimental tradition. In addition, we are fortunate, should it be necessary, to be able to call for financial assistance from the Regimental Association Benevolent Fund.