Ledley visits Royal British Legion Industries
Wed 07 November 2018, 17:59|
Tottenham Hotspur
As part of the Club’s Remembrance activities, Ledley King today (Wednesday 7 November) paid a visit to the Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) headquarters in Aylesford, Kent.
Royal British Legion Industries is an independent national charity that provides employment, training and support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependents, including those with a disability or health condition or who have been unemployed long-term.
During his visit, Ledley met ex-military personnel and RBLI staff at their village. The purpose-built site is home to 300 veterans and their families and provides a tailored support service to each resident, enabling them to live an independent life.
Ledley also visited employees in the RBLI factory, more commonly known as Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company (BBMC). This is one of the UK’s leading social enterprises and 70 per cent of the factory’s workforce are military veterans or people with disabilities. They produce road signs, rail signs and commercial signs for the likes of Network Rail and Highways England.
The factory is currently producing ‘Tommy’ statues, silhouettes of fallen heroes which form part of ‘There But Not There’, a national charity campaign to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War. Recently, Harry Kane, Mousa Dembele and Michel Vorm stood alongside the statues to support the charity campaign.
Ledley also laid a wreath at RBLI’s historic Garden of Honour to remember the 16 players the Club lost during the Great War, many of whom joined the Army as part of the ‘football battalions’.
Steve Sherry, CMG OBE and Chief Executive of RBLI, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Ledley and to introduce him to our team. Tottenham Hotspur do tremendous work in the community, supporting those who are most in need.”
Ledley said: “It’s been a privilege spending time here today, meeting some of the people RBLI support and hearing their stories. It’s fantastic to see first-hand the work the charity does to support ex-service personnel by giving them employment opportunities and accommodation.”
