Chris saw first hand the vital work Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) is doing to support injured military veterans during a visit to the charity’s Leatherhead factory.
During his tour of Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company (BBMC) in Kingston Road on Friday (March 8th), Chris met some of the 30 former service personnel who work there, more than 95% of whom have some form of physical or mental disability.
BBMC is a division of RBLI which celebrates its centenary this year having been established in 1919 to provide accommodation to veterans living on its village near Maidstone in Kent. Since then, BBMC has grown into a £5m enterprise, manufacturing signs for Network Rail and highways authorities, and pallets for industry from its factories in Leatherhead and Kent.
During his visit, Chris heard how RBLI has launched a major campaign to secure £14m to create a new Centenary Village close to its Kent headquarters from where it delivers care, accommodation, training and employment services. He visited the Kent site last year in his role as Transport Secretary.
Chris said: “It was really interesting to visit the Royal British Legion Industries factory this morning and to meet injured ex-service personnel now employed there. In particular it was good to hear how proud they are working to provide all kinds of print and signage services and products not only to the local community but nationally too”
Geoff Streetley, Managing Director of BBMC, showed Mr Grayling around the Leatherhead site and thanked him for visiting.
He said: “We are grateful to Mr Grayling for taking the time to visit us and see for himself the work we do with military veterans here in his constituency.
“As a not-for-profit organisation, all revenue made as a result of operations here in Leatherhead go towards RBLI’s work towards helping our injured veterans live more independent lives and create a better future for themselves.
“In this our centenary year, we are delighted our work has the support of our local MP.”
