£2m boost for excavation of HMS Invincible wreck in the Solent

Chancellor George Osborne has announced more than £2 million will be spent on excavating HMS Invincible, which sank in 1758, in a project involving veterans, serving personnel and disadvantaged teenagers.

The ship - the first to bear the name - lies on Horse Tail Sands in the Eastern Solent.

And Flights to the Falklands for veterans over the next three years to visit battlefields, war graves and memorials will be secured with a £550,000 grant from the Chancellor’s pot and £2.25 million will support D-Day veteran visits to Normandy.

And the Aged Veterans Fund, which tackles health, well-being and social care needs, will receive £5 million and £100,000 is being used to fund an expedition for wounded veterans climbing Antarctica’s highest mountain.

The Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), one of the largest volunteer organisations in the country, will receive £375,000 from the Libor rate fixing scandal penalties pot, George Osborne said.

It was one of the organisations backed by a memorial fund set up in the wake of the fatal attack on Labour MP Jo Cox in June.

The award is one of a number made from the £14 million set aside from banking fines that Mr Osborne has handed out to charities in what are likely to be his remaining few hours as Chancellor.

Some £1.9 million will go on new buildings for pre-school age children of SAS personnel while £2.2 million will fund new recovery facilities for naval special forces.

Mr Osborne said: “It is right that funding from those in the banking industry who demonstrated the worst of values goes towards people who display the very best of British values.

“Jo Cox dedicated her life to bringing people together and making a difference. She was an inspiration to people across the world and I am proud to give the Royal Voluntary Service this funding in her memory to continue their vital work.”