Special Boat Service Association

The Special Boat Service Association, a charitable incorporated organisation established in 2016, exists to promote the efficiency, welfare, and traditions of the UK's elite Special Boat Service (SBS) by fostering connections among serving and former members, upholding values of understatement, humility, and modesty, and providing lifetime practical and financial support to SBS personnel, families, dependants, bereaved relatives, and wounded veterans—especially where public funding falls short. Governed by a Board of Trustees with robust policies on ethics and safeguarding, it emphasises discreet, confidential aid reflecting the SBS's operational sensitivity, prioritising expedient relief for crises like financial hardship, injury, sickness, or bereavement.

It funds bespoke welfare interventions, including direct grants, healthcare, counselling, respite breaks at UK and European properties, reunions, and resilience initiatives such as Operation Armour (human performance programme) and a developing Resilience and Recovery Centre. Support targets individual hardships, mental/physical recovery, family initiatives, and community cohesion exclusively for the SBS network, occasionally extending to closely associated Allied Forces; organisational funding is invitation-only for specialist partners delivering SBS-specific services.

Unsolicited applications are not accepted—aid is provided confidentially via internal referrals, trustee/CEO discretion, and rolling decisions without public deadlines. Grant amounts are tailored and unpublished but include substantial six-figure welfare disbursements annually, with no income, size, or geographic restrictions beyond SBS ties. It excludes general projects, core costs, unrestricted grants, or external charities without pre-existing SBS relationships, distinguishing itself through its closed-community focus, long-term legacy support, and ethos of quiet, dignified resilience for this unique military cadre.