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The Royal Homes exist to provide a pleasant environment in which every lady who chooses to live there can enjoy a dignified life in attractive surroundings at a reasonable cost. Unless financial assistance were to be provided it would be difficult for many to do so.
It is in recognition of this that The Royal Homes uses its own funds, together with generous contributions from outside sources including, most particularly, Seafarers UK - King George’s Fund for Sailors, The Army Benevolent Fund and the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, to make discretionary grants to residents for whom such assistance is needed.
The principles upon which this is done have, necessarily, changed over the years. Currently the Management Committee sets each year what it considers to be the minimum level of disposable income that it would wish residents to have available to them before meeting the Standard Maintenance Charge (£4,326). In 2007 / 2008 this figure is £11,820.
Should a resident’s income fall below this level, then the Management Committee has a discretion to make that resident a grant to restore it to that level, subject to a maximum grant equal to the Standard Maintenance Charge.
Each year every resident who wishes to apply for a discretionary grant is asked to make a detailed declaration of capital and income. Included in their income must be all Housing, Council Tax and other Benefits (excluding Attendance Allowance) and pensions received from public or State sources. The Management Committee has established rules by which notional income is attributed to any savings, capital and other assets that the resident may have, and the actual income derived from those sources is ignored. A resident’s potential entitlement to a discretionary grant is dependent on the outcome of this exercise, and the availability of charitable funds.