Royal Irish Regiment Charity

The Royal Irish Regiment Charity, established in 1996 and governed by trustees from current and former regiment members, is dedicated to the welfare, heritage preservation, and camaraderie of serving and retired personnel from The Royal Irish Regiment and its antecedent regiments, along with their dependants. Rooted in regimental traditions of mutual support, duty of care, and stewardship, it relieves needs arising from poverty, disability, ill-health, age, unemployment, or service-related disadvantages, blending individual welfare with cultural legacy to sustain regimental identity across generations.

It funds direct welfare grants for essential living costs, medical expenses, homelessness prevention, education, retraining, and hardship relief; heritage activities like regimental journals, museum support, chapel and memorial maintenance; amateur sports; and regimental mascot welfare. Beneficiaries are strictly regimental community members and families, with impacts focused on alleviating hardship, fostering bonds, and enhancing life chances for veterans.

Unsolicited applications from organisations are not accepted; support is referral-based via Regimental Headquarters caseworkers (e.g., Veterans Welfare Service NI or SSAFA), requiring evidence of need and regimental connection. Geographically, it prioritises Northern Ireland but extends UK-wide to the regimental diaspora, with no income/size restrictions for individuals or regimental entities. Grants are demand-led on a rolling basis, assessed fortnightly by a trustee sub-committee, typically ranging from several hundred to a few thousand pounds.

Distinctively, it avoids general project, core, or capital funding for external charities, emphasising case-specific aid and regimental heritage over broad military support, providing a unique safety net and identity anchor for this defined cohort.