The MacRobert Trust has awarded a £106,000 grant to the RAF Benevolent Fund to support the development of a new Heritage and Welfare Centre at RAF Lossiemouth.
The grant will enable the RAF Benevolent Fund to cover the costs of transforming a historic building close to the Station into a new centre for serving personnel, veterans and their families.
The project marks the first donation from The MacRobert Trust’s new Military Fund, which forms part of the Trust’s wider 10 Goals for 10 Years programme and reflects its longstanding commitment to the Armed Forces community.
RAF Lossiemouth holds a particularly strong connection with the MacRobert family and its military history, making the project especially significant for the Trust.
Gillian Currie, Chief Executive Officer of The MacRobert Trust, said:
“Our new Military Fund is a key part of our 10 Goals for 10 Years, reflecting our commitment to the Armed Forces community and the MacRobert family’s military legacy. It is particularly poignant that its first donation supports RAF Lossiemouth, a place that still holds such a deep connection to the MacRobert legacy. We are delighted to support a project that will benefit serving personnel, veterans and their families.”
The existing Heritage Centre at RAF Lossiemouth is located within the Station boundary, making access more difficult for veterans, families and the wider community.
The new Heritage and Welfare Centre will instead occupy a historic building just outside the Station boundary, off Draine Road. The building, formerly used as the Officer Commanding Operations House, has been unused for some time and overlooks the airfield.
Once transformed, the centre will provide a more accessible home for RAF Lossiemouth’s heritage while also creating a welcoming social and welfare space for the wider RAF community.
The project is intended to encourage interaction between serving personnel and veterans and help reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation.
RAF Lossiemouth is one of the RAF’s busiest operational stations.
Wing Commander Andrea Dowds said:
“RAF Lossiemouth has a rich heritage with connections across Scotland and an interesting history. The MacRobert Trust grant and the RAF Benevolent Fund will enable us to share that with the 5,000 serving personnel and their families based at the Station and, just as importantly, act as a social hub for the 10,000 or so veterans who live in the Moray area, and even more who visit the area on holiday.”
Simon Harper, Director of Operations at the RAF Benevolent Fund, said:
“RAF Lossiemouth is one of the RAF’s busiest units, delivering operations at home and overseas. By enhancing communities and building social relationships and connections, the RAF Benevolent Fund is there to ensure everyone in the RAF Family is supported and valued. Delivering community projects such as this is central to that aim, so we are deeply grateful to The MacRobert Trust for enabling us to undertake this project at RAF Lossiemouth.”
The MacRobert Trust has a long history of supporting the Armed Forces and military charities through its charitable work.
The creation of the new Military Fund provides a further way for the Trust to continue that commitment while preserving the military legacy of the MacRobert family for future generations.