Princess Anne to visit Gosport to open new community hub for military families at Brune Park School

A brand new Gosport community hub will be officially opened on November 1 by Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne, who has been patron of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity since 2007.

The new hub has been made possible by the £400,000 funding that was made by the charity which means that more than 400 service children and families will be supported in Gosport and Fareham.

The funding has not only secured the construction of the new building, but it has also meant that there will be a number of dedicated staff working at the hub who will work with service families.

Mandy Lindley, director of relationships and funding at the RNRMC, said: ‘As a Royal Navy veteran and Gosport resident of over 40 years, I am part of a proud and significant Royal Navy community in this area.

‘The creation of the Gosport Community Hub to support local Royal Navy families and the wider school community has personal significance for me, and I am proud that the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity has been at the forefront of delivering this milestone facility.’

The Academy’s Service Children and Families Lead and Service Children’s Co-ordinator have already provided personalised support that will be ongoing for more than a third of school’s service children.

Included within the support is a Talking Teens Group Chat, a community kitchen project, Lego therapy, Multi Agency Support and Early Help Service Family Intervention, which helps support young people who have family members in the services.

Chris Willis, executive headteacher at the GFMT, was crowned Income Innovator of the Year at the National School Awards 2021 for his involvement in this project.

He said: ‘The Hub is part of our wider Gosport community strategy, which focuses on raising the aspiration and engagement of our families and community partners across the town. We strongly believe that through collaboration with key stakeholders, charities, businesses and other organisations we can do far more together and achieve great things for Gosport.’

The opening will take place at Brune Park Community School where Princess Anne will be greeted by students and will talk about future ambitions for the community of service families.