Supporting the Club

THE ROYAL AIR FORCE CLUB: SAFEGUARDING OUR FUTURE

From: Air Marshal Sir David Walker KCVO OBE DL
President, Royal Air Force Club

It is but 2 years since we celebrated the Royal Air Force Club centenary, coinciding with the completion of splendid enhancements to our facilities. Usage of 128 Piccadilly by both members and external organisations was at an all time high, and all seemed set fair. It is an old military maxim that one should always expect the unexpected, but not in the worst of nightmares could anyone have anticipated our current predicament. As our Chairman advised you in her recent correspondence, we are forecasting a shortfall of £5,000,000 in our revenue for 2020. This in turn, would lead to a £750,000 loss for the year. The swift, far reaching but very painful measures taken by the Board of Trustees and the Executive has stabilised our position. However, just as our trade started to recover, we have been dealt another blow by the latest Government restrictions. Therefore, safeguarding the Club’s future will need your active support, and there are three ways in which you can do so now.

USE THE CLUB

The first is very straightforward: make use of the Club. Our principal sources of income are from subscriptions and bedroom occupancy. Consequently, it is essential that we retain our membership base, hence the decision to maintain the current rate of subscription into 2021. With regard to bedroom occupancy, at the moment this stands at less than 30%, which is an unsustainable position. I appreciate that some members, especially those at higher risk, remain cautious about travel. This is entirely understandable and, in this context, I would not wish to encourage anyone to do anything that they are not comfortable with. But you can still help by sponsoring unaccompanied stays by friends and family. £125 a night for a double room in Mayfair represents a substantial bargain even in these troubled times. Please do all you can on this front and when you visit try to make maximum use of the Club’s facilities, particularly the Dining Room.

DONATIONS

The second way is by direct financial donations. As the Chairman noted in her correspondence, the Covid19 Appeal had raised around £60,000, but this flowed from only 400 people, which represented less than 2% of our membership. Very gratifyingly, we have since received an additional £50,000 in donations from a further 450 members. I have, though, now to ask you for very much broader support in the form of a monthly donation. This follows a suggestion by one of our long standing members, Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC AE, who was a Mosquito Pathfinder pilot in the Second World War. Like many good ideas, Colin’s proposal is both simple and potentially very effective: each member, of all categories, should contribute by standing order a minimum of £10 per month. This would obviously help our general finances greatly and also assist us to deal with a specific financial issue. You may recall that the Club invested over £8,000,000 in the additional facilities and new bedrooms that made up the Centenary Project and this was financed partly from the Club’s own resources and by taking out a bank loan of £5,500,000 in 2018. At that time, the Board was satisfied that the Club could comfortably meet its loan obligations. That has been so, and with monthly interest and loan repayments of £45,000 our outstanding loan is now £4,700,000.  However, with the significant reduction in our income, servicing the debt is problematic. Therefore, your donations would be used to relieve us of this debt as quickly as possible, as well as alleviating our immediate financial position. 

A Standing order form can be found below or via the link here. This includes a Gift-Aid Declaration, which would increase the value of your contribution to the Club by 25%.  If you can afford £10 per month at least until the end of next year, I urge you not to put this request in the “to do pile”, but instead complete the standing order straight away, and send it to your bank and a duplicate copy to the Club. Alternatively, you can do this through your online banking but we would ask that you inform us so that your contribution can be acknowledged.

If you would instead prefer to make a single equivalent or higher contribution now, then that would be wonderfully helpful. This can be done via a cheque made payable to the Royal Air Force Club and sent to the Club Chief Executive or by the JustGiving link here:

www.justgiving.com/campaign/rafclubcovid-19

LEGACIES

There is a third way in which you could make a very substantial contribution to both our survival and to our future. This is by a bequest. I imagine, like me, the period of lockdown has given many of you time to reflect on how best to deploy your legacy. Please consider amending your will to benefit the Club, which has charitable status. This might be for a specific figure, or as a percentage of your total estate. Amending your will is a relatively simple process which can be completed swiftly by your legal advisor.  Further information on legacies can be found below.

THANK YOU

In my recollection at least, it is unprecedented for the President of the Royal Air Force Club to write to our membership. This is the usual purview of the Chairman. However, I have been asked to do so by the Trustees to underline the fact that the prevailing situation represents a very serious risk to the Club’s future. This risk can only be countered by your direct and active support now. I have no doubt that we can rely upon you to help safeguard the Club for future generations, and I thank you for this.

Yours sincerely,

Air Marshal Sir David Walker KCVO OBE DL
President, The Royal Air Force Club

Registered Charity 1108295
Royal Patron: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II