Project Invicta
During the summer and autumn of 2019 we had the opportunity to bid for funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund. The purpose of the fund is to provide support to veterans around the country by providing projects the capability to improve or establish a venue where veterans can go and enjoy the company of likeminded people while being in a safe, warm and friendly atmosphere. The Royal British Legion Club at Liss is a natural area where the project applied.
A Project Team was formed and opinions sought about what areas in the club would benefit most from improvement or change and have a lasting impact for the clubs building infrastructure. After some discussion several areas were identified as being in need of upgrade, change or improvement, they were:
- Re-wiring of the property and removing the thirty year old wiring
- New windows, doors, soffits and facias to improve security
- A new boiler
- Complete refit for the kitchen
- Tarmacing of the car park area to the rear of the club
The total funding requested was for £90,000.
On February 18th 2020 we received notification that our bid had been successful and we had been awarded the full funding requested of £90,000. The terms and conditions associated with accepting the grant are detailed but nothing that would cause us any concern. The terms and conditions are available for anyone to read if they so wish but overall they require us to update the funding team on a regular basis, maximise the media and promotional aspect of receiving the grant and of course delivering what we set out in our proposal within the budget. Additionally the grant committee would be looking for an invitation to view the progress of the project and the positive way it is impacting on veterans and the local community.
At the meeting of the Branch Committee on Thursday 20th February a formal proposal was put to the branch committee which was passed unanimously. Since that meeting a separate bank account has been set up and the formal letter of acceptance sent to the funding committee of the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund.
The Project Invicta team held their second meeting on Thursday 5th March the agenda and minutes of which are available on request. A summary of the meeting will be posted on the website after each meeting so everyone is kept informed but please feel free to ask any questions you wish when we are in the club.
We have a lot of work to do delivering the project which will benefit the club enormously and volunteers will be required to assist delivering some of the stages in particular stripping out 30 year old electrical wiring.
Our aim for this project is to establish Liss Royal British Legion as a regional centre for veterans both locally, regionally and for any visiting the area. We also envisage including as many of the local community as possible so they feel welcome to come and join the club and make it a centre of their neighbourhood.
Frank Smyth
Project Manager
Project Invicta
