What we are about

The War Widows’ Association of Great Britain was formed in 1971 becoming a registered charity in 1991 and has developed into the United Kingdom’s leading representative organisation for widow(er)s of Armed Forces Personnel where death has been caused by or hastened by service. Everything that we do is based around our 3 core values….
Campaign

Campaign

Campaigning is the foundation of the War Widows’ Association; the Association has managed many successful campaigns to improve the conditions of War Widows and War Widowers.

Care

Care

We care by signposting members to the appropriate help and through our network of Regional Organisers we offer friendship and support.

Remembrance

Remembrance

Remembrance, the third pillar of the War Widows’ Association is a very important part of its programme of events.

Latest from our Chairman

Happy New Year everyone,

I hope you all managed to celebrate over the festive period with family and friends. Sadly, Covid has reared its ugly head again and we are seeing some restrictions on our movements depending on where we live. The main thing is to keep well and if that means staying at home for another few weeks then it is a small price to pay. Let’s hope though that 2022 sees the end of Covid as a threat to our lives and it becomes something which we can realistically live with.

Here in Brighton, it was so foggy from about 24th to 30th December that there was no incentive to leave the house apart from to walk the dogs. No snow, much to the boys’ disappointment. I think that if travelling restrictions are lifted in February, we might be heading off to the ski slopes for a bit of fun. Living in the south of England does make the European slopes more accessible which would be great for a change.

Moira Kane

The Trustees are hoping to hold a meeting in January in London, but it will become a virtual meeting if the Government advice is to remain at home. My final dates for 2021 were postponed until the New Year so eventually my diary will be very busy.

I must apologise for the late arrival of your package of letters in December. We encountered a few problems with the printers who like everyone else has had to cope with a reduced staff at times. Please don’t let it stop you replying as we fully understand that it may not be possible to have sent a reply by 31st December. We are especially keen to hear from you about the role of the Regional Organiser (RO). This will be our main topic of discussion at the member’s engagement at the AGM and all comments will be discussed.

Sadly, the end of 2021 did not see us any further forward with our campaign for the reinstatement of pension. I am still waiting to hear from the MOD lawyers about how we could word a settlement which the Treasury would be happy to endorse. I know that it is very frustrating for those of you who are affected, and you have been waiting a long time for this to be resolved. I cannot make any promises to you apart from the fact that I am continually on your case with everyone I meet.

Debbie Bowles

I am looking forward to our hybrid AGM in March. You should be receiving a list of our prospective Trustees this month and they require your vote to enable them to join the Committee. We have 2 new Treasurers which is certainly different. They are both Associate members so at the moment Liz Carter is co-opted as Treasurer and she will deal with all the payments etc and Sue Concannon is a Committee Assistant and will deal with the book-keeping. Sue is a trained book keeper so we are in safe hands. As I write Debbie is in the process of doing a hand over with them. The bank appears to be taking their time to process the paperwork which was sent to them weeks ago. Until Liz is authorised to make payments, we will still be relying on Debbie to keep us going. I can’t express how grateful I am to Debbie for stepping in nearly 2 years ago now as temporary Treasurer. She has been fantastic and only complained a little bit when I could not find a replacement for her! We all wish her well and sincerely hope that we won’t have to call upon her services again and she can happily spend her time either at work or jetting across the waters to America.

Keep well everyone and hopefully I will see many of you during the year.

Yours, Moira

Latest News

War Widows Remembrance 2021

A Special Remembrance – 50 Years Since the formation of the War Widows’ Association of Great Britain in 1971 it has been the tradition for the Association to hold this Service of Remembrance at the Read more…

Standing with Giants

Standing with Giants are a not-for-profit organisation who create large scale art installations for people to experience and reflect upon, whilst fundraising for worthy causes. Using recycled building materials and creating soldiers, poppies, and NHS Read more…

Our Baroness continues to raise our question

Once again Baroness Fookes has raised our question of the reinstatement on the House of Lords. Follow the link below to discover more… https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2021-06-15/debates/2AD04A1C-26EA-4EA6-822B-822BD1C111DA/ArmedForcesTransitionToCivilianLife