‘Great Tommy sleepout’ next Friday

The Gibraltar MoD community will be taking part in the ‘Great Tommy sleepout’ on Friday, May 14, hosted at the Convent Gardens.
The Governor of Gibraltar, Sir David Steel has agreed to host the event and the sleepout is part of a drive by the Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) to raise funds and awareness for the roughly 6,000 veterans who currently live on the streets in the UK.
Volunteers will join more than 3,500 people throughout the country who have already signed up to the challenge and who have already raised £75,000.
Every penny raised by the campaign will go directly to RBLI’s wide range of services providing a home, welfare and employment support to military veterans.
RBLI, which is a separate charity to the Royal British Legion, provides a home to more than 300 veterans and their families through its Kent village, and homeless veterans in their emergency accommodation Mountbatten Pavilion.
At the heart of the village is the charity’s social enterprise factory, Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company, which provides employment opportunities to veterans and people with disabilities.
Throughout the pandemic, the team in BBMC have been supporting the wider community by producing signs for major infrastructure projects, pallets for the transportation of food, and ventilators and hand sanitizers for the telecoms industry.
The team have also been fulfilling the thousands of challenge fundraising packs, which include a beanie hat and booklet printed professionally in-house.
All veterans living in the village are provided with a tailored welfare support programme to help them regain their independence and overcome challenges caused by physical or mental disability, drug or alcohol dependency and unemployment.
To attend or support those who are taking part in RBLI’s Great Tommy Sleep Out, please contact the Community Support Team on +350 2005 (3579) or contact Sgt Aaran Ives on +350 2005 (3021) or alternatively +350 58732000.
Online donations can be made via: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Aaran-Ives