Happy New Year – before we move forward, we wanted to raise a glass to 2024! Last year was incredible and we wanted to reflect on some of the highlights.

Louise, founder of our charity said, “Last year was super special as we got to meet so many of our little troopers. It was a busy year with lots of face-to-face events, but it gave us the chance to hear first-hand about how your little ones are dealing with military life and how our charity helps.”

Royal Hospital Chelsea

Over the year we had 14 events, which included three very special events with the Royal Hospital Chelsea. These intergenerational events are amazing and it has been a privilege to watch the children and Pensioners learn more about each other’s military lives. At the recent event award-winning storyteller, Anna Conomos hosted an interactive festive workshop. The children and pensioners were encouraged to exchange Christmas stories and memories before dramatising them in a special performance.

Marina Spiteri, Community Engagement and Outreach Manager at the Royal Hospital Chelsea said: “It’s been wonderful to open our arms to the Little Troopers and extend our community to another generation in the military family. It was magical to see the Chelsea Pensioners and Little Troopers exchange festive memories and get to know one another throughout the day. The children openly shared their joy and excitement but also spoke about spending Christmas separated from parents. The Chelsea Pensioners loved showing the children their home and shared some of the fantastic festive traditions we have here.”

All-Together

One of our biggest programmes of work last year was our All-Together deployment project. The project aims to bring little troopers together to share their experience of growing up in the military community and providing activities to help them during deployment.

Over the year we hosted two teenager residentials, eight adventure days and ten online workshops. Through our online workshops we have discovered some amazing artists, created future scientists and made our mouths water with incredible little chefs. Our 2025 workshops begin on the 11^th January 2025 with ZooLab. The workshop theme is Chinese New Year and we can’t wait to meet some of the zodiac animals.

Booking for our next round of workshops is open now, click here.

Looking forward

Louise adds, “I’m excited for 2025, we are already organising more All Together events and will be building on our work with schools and healthcare. We will also be returning to the Royal Hospital Chelsea and climbing Snowdon. We hope to catch up with you at an event soon.”

“Happy New Year everyone.”