Rehab facility for injured Royal Navy sailors in Gosport receives a huge boost

HMS Sultan’s facilities in Gosport have been boosted by a £13,000 award from the Navy Army and Air Force Institute (NAAFI).

The windfall has funded the installation of four new TVs, a pa system and presentation facility, which allows for lessons to be delivered and for the rowing and cycling programmes to be used on a one-to-one basis for recuperation.

Surgeon Commander Charlotte Griffiths, HMS Sultan’s principal medical officer said: ‘The upgrades made to the primary care rehabilitation facilities’ gym have allowed us to modernise our approaches to rehabilitation and provide a welcoming environment for our patients.

‘By enhancing the facilities we anticipate that patients will further engage with their rehab pathway. This will have a significant effect on the recovery and deployability of HMS Sultan personnel.’

NAAFI is the Ministry of Defence’s in-house provider for catering and leisure services across the armed forces, they provide shops, bars, cookhouses and the NAAFI fund. They also support forces out on exercises

Formed in 1920 and in service since 1921, the NAAFI’s role is to support military communities by improving their quality of life wherever they are stationed.

As a non-profit organisation, every year the NAAFI reinvest their surplus funds back into projects to improve the welfare of forces personnel and their families. .

Mary Pittuck, head of HR and risk at NAAFI, said: ‘Over the last year, we’ve been celebrating our 100th anniversary, and we’ve pledged to plough in at least £750,000 each year over the next decade to help fund projects that spread a little bit of welfare in areas where we aren’t necessarily present.

‘So far, we’ve delivered some mindful and sensory gardens, children’s play centres, gym facilities, communal areas and community hubs, anything that adds to the lived experience of our personnel and their families, we will look to deliver. It’s great for the guys who are getting the benefit and for us still to be involved.

‘The project at HMS Sultan is great, they’ve done a brilliant job in enhancing the gym and adding to the facilities, especially where people are going through rehabilitation.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, with 70 per cent fewer adverts for less than 20p a day.