Associated Charities

How we can help you

Apply for Financial Assistance using the Lightning Reach portal.

For applications for financial assistance you can apply by clicking on Register for Help below which will take you to the Lightning Reach portal. This platform is provided by our trusted partner, Lightning Reach, a social impact startup which uses secure technology to make the application process as quick and safe as possible for you.

A simple 3 step process

Register and complete your profile here
When asked to specify which of the Armed Forces you have served in, make sure to select ‘Royal Navy’, ‘Royal Marines’, ‘Merchant Navy in support of the Armed Forces’ or from the roles / industries list to ensure you are matched to Naval Children’s Charity.
Once you’ve completed your profile, you should receive a support match to The Naval Children’s Charity. Click ‘continue’ to complete and submit your application.
Provide your supporting evidence and submit your application to The Naval Children’s Charity.

Once your application has been made a caseworker will be in touch as soon as possible, this is usually within 3 days.

The profile you create on the Lightning Reach portal can also help you to find and apply for support from other support organisations easily and securely. We recommend that you submit your application to The Naval Children’s Charity first before submitting applications to other organisations.

For help with completing your application, visit Lightning Support and search for ‘The Naval Children’s Charity’.

If you have a question or not sure what help you need and require information or advice please use this online form.

Alternatively, If you would prefer to call our casework team, we can be contacted on 023 9263 9534, our office hours are 0830-1600 Monday to Friday.

How we can help you

The Naval Children’s Charity supports children up to and including the age of 25 whose parent(s) serve or have served in the Naval Service: Royal Navy, Royal Marines, QARNNS, WRNS, their Reserves and the RFA. If you need information or advice regarding support for your child(ren) please fill in the form to the best of your knowledge. One of our caseworkers will then contact you.

If you would prefer to call us we can be contacted on 023 9263 9534, our office hours are 0830-1600 Monday to Thursday and 0830-1300 on Friday.

Name

Date of birth

Address

Email

Contact Number

Relationship to the service person

Service Number

Name and Dates of birth of child(ren)

Summary of help required

We will contact you and may need to get further supporting information from you. General Data Protection Regulations – We work with, and alongside, many other military charities and organisations to help deliver our support service. On occasion, we may need to pass your details onto them if we feel they can better/also assist or are the official delivery channel.

I am happy that my details will be shared with relevant welfare service providers in order for the Naval Children’s Charity to deliver the support I request at the time.

Aggie Weston’s

Aggie Weston’s is here to help serving members of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and their families. They provide pastoral support around the country and enable families to stay connected through projects such as Storybook Waves which helps service personnel maintain the link with their children by recording a bedtime story for them to listen to when a parent is serving away from home.

Armed Forces Education Trust

A charity supporting children and young adults whose education has been compromised or put at risk as a result of parents’ past or current service in the Armed Forces

Child Bereavement UK

Helping children and young people, parents and families, to rebuild their lives when a child grieves or when a child dies.

Sailors’ Children’s Society

Support for children whose parent has made a living at sea or from the inland canals or rivers. They help mariners from fishing fleets, Royal Navy and Merchant Navy families including ferries, cruise ships, cargo ships and Offshore industries. Support is given to those in receipt of means-tested benefits only.

Educational Trusts Forum

Supporting vulnerable children with educational grants, a community of Trusts which provide financial grants to help vulnerable children.

Gamblers Anonymous

A fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problem and help others do the same. The website offers various aids for the compulsive gambler including a forum, chat room, literature and most importantly a meeting finder. Meetings are at the core of Gamblers Anonymous and they have meetings every day of the week throughout England, Wales and Ulster. For those in Scotland www.gascotland.org and Ireland www.gamblersanonymous.ie

Naval Families Federation

Provides advice and support to Serving families

Help for Heroes

Help for Heroes are a vast network of professionals and partners. They help serving members of the Armed Forces and Veterans and support families through physical and emotional rehabilitation and recovery, identifying new career opportunities as well as offering financial and welfare support. They also run beneficiary support networks, to offer support, camaraderie and a listening ear.

Little Troopers

Supporting children with one or both parents serving in the British Armed Forces, regular or reserve. Provide resources, initiatives and support to ease and aid repeated separation periods aiming to keep parent and child connected and bonded even when miles apart.

The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust (RNBT)

RNBT gives help, in cases of need, to serving and former Royal Naval ratings and Royal Marines other ranks, which includes Reservists. They also help their partners, children and some others connected with them. They make grants to assist in a very wide variety of circumstances, such as help towards living expenses, house repairs, disability aids, job training, all sorts of financial difficulties, care home top-up fees, domiciliary care and much more.

The Royal Navy & Royal Marines Widows’ Association

The Royal Navy & Royal Marines Widows’ Association was formed in 2008 when a small group of widows decided to set up an association to support other widows with the aim of bringing friendship, support, guidance and comfort to those who have experienced the trauma of bereavement.

Their members range in age from their 20’s through to their 80’s, each with a different story to tell, but bound by a common bond of support and friendship.

Unfortunately there is no easy answer to the grief bereavement brings, there is no time scale, each of us will take a different path on the journey. However, they have all been helped along by friendships they have made in the association and they would like to offer their support to other too.

The Royal Naval Association (RNA)

With over 11,000 members across 250+ branches in the UK and overseas, the RNA are a family of current and former Naval Service personnel, relatives and supporters of the Royal Navy.

Whether they are catching up with friends at our regular social events, fundraising, advising on welfare and employment matters or just providing an arm around the shoulder, RNA’s natural willingness to help others stems from the tradition and camaraderie that life in the Royal Navy instils.

SCiP Alliance

Bringing together practitioners, researchers, policymakers and funders to build a stronger evidence-base, better policy, and enhanced support for Service children’s education and progression, placing their voices at the heart of all they do.

Royal Navy Officers’ Charity

ARNO is the membership organisation for all Royal Navy, Royal Marines and QARNNS officers along with their Maritime Reserve counterparts.

RNOC provides benevolence to both serving and retired officers of the Naval Service (RN, RM and QARNNS), their spouses, former spouses and dependants who are in need of financial support. The Charity continues to make a real difference to the quality of life for beneficiaries through the breadth of their grant making. Support includes assistance to those on low incomes, care home fees, scholarships and re-training to gain employment.

The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC)

The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity is the principal charity of the Royal Navy. The charity exists to support sailors, marines and their families, for life. Since 2007, they have funded projects and facilities that boost morale for those who serve today. They also distribute millions of pounds annually to military charities which care for the children, families and veterans of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

In practical terms, the RNRMC is a fundraising and grant-making charity. This means it delivers its charitable outputs through dispensing grants to:

Other Naval charities
Military charities
Other charities with Naval beneficiaries
Ships, units and personnel of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and Auxiliaries
Individual serving personnel and veterans through the RNOC and RMCTF

The Royal British Legion

The Royal British Legion provides lifelong support for the Armed Forces Community – Serving men and women (Regulars and Reservists), veterans, and their families. They provide information, advice and guidance to help the Armed Forces Community find and access the support they need.

The Legion provides families of serving and ex-Service personnel the chance to take a break and get away from the stresses and strains of everyday life through their Family Holiday Breaks scheme. They also run Adventure Breaks for young people, so that they can enjoy themselves, meet new people, have new experiences, improve their self-esteem and most of all have fun, while giving parents a well-earned break

Seafarers’ Advice and Information Line (Sail)

Seafarers’ Advice and Information Line – this organisation gives free advice to seafarers and their families on issues such as benefits, debt, housing and is part of the UK’s Citizen’s Advice Network.

SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association)

SSAFA provides lifelong support to anyone who is currently serving or has ever served in the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the British Army or the Royal Air Force (Regulars and Reserves) and their families. They have a network of trained volunteers on Army, RAF and Naval bases in the UK and around the world who can give you local support. They provide a range of personalised services, including welfare advice, housing and healthcare, and signposting to organisations that offer more specialised support.

SSAFA Forcesline is a free and confidential telephone helpline and email service that provides support for Serving (regulars and reserves) and ex-Service men and women from the Armed Forces and for their families. As an independent charity, SSAFA is not part of the military Chain of Command. The team are there to listen and not to judge. They can give you factual information and ‘signpost’ ways forward to assist you. They can also speak with you in confidence if you, or someone you know, are absent without leave (AWOL).

To contact Forcesline from the UK, please call the freephone number: 0800 731 4880. The line is open from 0900 – 1700 (UK local time) Monday – Friday. To contact Forcesline from overseas please call –

Germany: 0800 731 4880
Cyprus: 800 91065
Falkland Islands: # 6111
Anywhere in the world (Call-back): + 44 (0)207 463 9292

Wrens Benevolent Trust (WRNSBT)

Financial assistance to all former serving ratings and officers who served in the WRNS including those who transferred to the RN.

The Royal Marines Charity

The Royal Marines Charity provides support, advice and friendship to serving and retired Royal Marines, their families, those who aspire to join and those with close links to our Corps.

They offer a range of assistance for their beneficiaries. This includes mental health support, respite breaks, bespoke careers advice, grants to help with financial difficulty and getting about inside and outside the home.

Winston’s Wish

Supporting children and young people after the death of a parent or sibling.

AWARDS AND BURSARIES - Royal Hospital School

The Royal Hospital School have a long standing history of supporting children from Naval families with additional financial support offered through Greenwich Hospital Bursaries to children of serving or veteran Royal Navy personnel.

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How we can help you

Apply for Financial Assistance using the Lightning Reach portal.

A simple 3 step process

How we can help you

Aggie Weston’s

Armed Forces Education Trust

Child Bereavement UK

Sailors’ Children’s Society

Educational Trusts Forum

Gamblers Anonymous

Naval Families Federation

Help for Heroes

Little Troopers

The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust (RNBT)

The Royal Navy & Royal Marines Widows’ Association

The Royal Naval Association (RNA)

SCiP Alliance

Royal Navy Officers’ Charity

The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC)

The Royal British Legion

Seafarers’ Advice and Information Line (Sail)

SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association)

Wrens Benevolent Trust (WRNSBT)

The Royal Marines Charity

Winston’s Wish

AWARDS AND BURSARIES - Royal Hospital School