The Not Forgotten Presents Anyone For Tea?
Cups of tea and good conversation have always been at the core of what The Not Forgotten does. It’s in our history and was the very first thing that our founder Marta Cunningham did for wounded World War I soldiers in 1919. After hearing that there were ‘perhaps a handful’ of wounded personnel in the Ministry of Pensions hospital, Marta decided to offer to take them out for some tea. She was shocked to learn that there was, in fact, 600 soldiers who felt forgotten as they lay in their hospital beds.
To combat this, Marta and her friends began to organise tea parties, concerts and outings for those who could attend and The Not Forgotten was born. The rest, as they say, is history, and it is a long history spanning 102 years. Our quest today is the same as it was over a century ago – to make sure that no ex-Service and Service personnel feels left behind or forgotten.
To commemorate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the 40th anniversary of the Falklands Conflict, we decided to return to the roots planted by Marta all those years ago, and are very pleased to announce The Not Forgotten Anyone For Tea? Tour.
For two weeks in June we will be going on tour in our specially kitted out double decker bus to offer a tea (or a coffee!) and a biscuit or two to veterans and beneficiaries across the country. You can head to our events page to find out more about where we will be, and register your interest in coming along to say hello. On the 14th of June, we will be making a special stop at Plymouth Hoe to compliment the SAMA(82) commemorations for the Falklands anniversary.
This event wouldn’t be possible without the sponsorship and assistance of Waitrose, and we are thrilled to have them onboard with us to make this event even more special.
Our head of events, Rosie Thompson MBE said “We are thrilled and excited to be travelling across the UK on our ‘Anyone For Tea’ Tour Bus to celebrate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. Sponsored by 11 Waitrose Branches, we hope to meet as many of our veterans as we can for a cuppa and a chat as well as raising awareness of the work of The Not Forgotten to the general public. The icing on the cake will be Annie Riley entertaining the troops along the way. So please do pop in and see us if we are in your area. We look forward to seeing you all.”
We cannot wait to see you on the road!