ROYAL COMMONWEALTH EX-SERVICES LEAGUE

Registered charity 1174874 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q132472441 · also known as RCEL

The charity operates outside the United Kingdom looking after the welfare of ex-servicemen, women and widows of Commonwealth countries who have at some time served the British Crown.

Objects

WITH A VIEW TO PERPETUATING THE MEMORY OF GALLANT MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SUFFERED OR DIED FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS, THE OBJECTS OF THE CHARITY SHALL BE BY CHARITABLE MEANS:1) TO SEEK TO ENSURE THAT NO MAN OR WOMAN RESIDENT OVERSEAS WHO HAS AT SOME TIME SERVED THE CROWN: A) IN THE ARMED FORCES OF ANY COMMONWEALTH COUNTRY OR FORMER COMMONWEALTH COUNTRY BEFORE THAT COUNTRY ACHIEVED INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM; OR B) DURING HOSTILITIES IN THE MERCHANT NAVIES OF ANY SUCH COUNTRY; OR C) IN THE RED CROSS OR ST JOHNÆS ORGANISATION WHILE SUCH ORGANISATION WAS SERVING WITH THE ARMED FORCES OF ANY SUCH COUNTRY, SHOULD SUFFER UNDUE HARDSHIP;2) TO SEEK TO ENSURE THE WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS OF SUCH PERSONS WHO QUALIFY FOR SUPPORT UNDER 3.1 SHOULD NOT SUFFER UNDUE HARDSHIP; 3) TO ASSIST UNITED KINGDOM SERVICE CHARITIES TO PROVIDE WELFARE TO QUALIFYING PERSONNEL (INCLUDING THEIR WIDOWS OR WIDOWERS) RESIDENT OVERSEAS WHO ARE IN NEED AND WHO AT SOME TIME SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES OR DURING HOSTILITIES IN THE MERCHANT NAVY OR THE RED CROSS OR ST JOHNÆS ORGANISATIONS WHILE SUCH ORGANISATIONS WERE SERVING WITH THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM; AND4) TO SEEK, WHERE POSSIBLE AND WITHIN RESOURCES, TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE SUBJECT OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE SERVICE OF THE ARMED AND AUXILIARY FORCES OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND OF THEIR NEEDS.

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · Disability · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Armed Forces/emergency Service Efficiency · Other Charitable Purposes · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Southwark, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2026 accounts

The accounts state that the charity's free reserves stood at £1,246,972, representing approximately 21 months of unrestricted expenditure. The trustees note that the charity relies heavily on FCDO funding and would not be a going concern beyond 2029 without a further extension, indicating a dependency on future public funding for long-term viability.

Automated summary of the FY2026 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

• Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (FY2025) → 2 (FY2026).
• Going concern: no going-concern doubt (FY2025) → going-concern doubt noted (FY2026).

Comparing this charity’s FY2025 and FY2026 accounts as analysed by this site.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 10922587

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL) (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Field Marshal The Lord Richards of Herstmonceux GCB CBE DSO DL — Grand President (source)
• Major General Mitch Mitchell CB MBE — Deputy Grand President (source)
• Major David Thompson — Secretary General (source)
• Mrs Evelyn Strouts — Chairman Welfare (SCOWP) Committee (source)
• Colonel MJ Winarick OBE — Deputy Chairman of Executive Committee and Council Meetings (source)
• Mr JM Archer — Honorary Treasurer (source)
• Colonel B Pasan Kularatne — Controller Finance (source)
• Squadron Leader Tim Burt — Controller Welfare and Grants (source)

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

• ASTRUC, Paul Jacques Sylvain — director, appointed 28/07/2026on trustee list
• HAZELL, Jason Peter — director, appointed 03/03/2026on trustee list
• WINARICK, Michael John — director, appointed 13/02/2024on trustee list
• CHAMBERS, Paul Wesley Farquharson — director, appointed 13/02/2024on trustee list
• MITCHELL, Gerald Ian, Major General — director, appointed 07/10/2020on trustee list
• WATKINS, Libby — director, appointed 09/09/2020not on trustee list
• MARTIN, Andrew John — director, appointed 18/08/2017on trustee list
• ELLIOTT, Christopher Haslett, Major General — director, appointed 18/08/2017on trustee list
• ARCHER, Jeremy Michael — director, appointed 18/08/2017not on trustee list
• STROUTS, Evelyn Anne — director, appointed 18/08/2017on trustee list

Official officers record.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2026)

Reported reserves equal ~5.0 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Other (74% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 2.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Major General Gerald Ian Mitchellchair
• ANDREW JOHN MARTIN
• EVELYN ANNE STROUTS
• Elisabeth Watkins
• JEREMY MICHAEL ARCHER MA · trustee of 2 other charities
• Jason Peter Hazell
• MAJOR GENERAL CHRISTOPHER HASLETT ELLIOTT
• Michael John Winarick · trustee of 1 other charity
• Paul Jacques Sylvain Astruc
• Paul Wesley Farquharson Chambers

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Antigua And Barbuda · Australia · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belize · Bermuda · Botswana · Burma · Cameroon · Canada · Cayman Islands · Cyprus

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE ROYAL CAMBRIDGE HOME.

• THE ROYAL CAMBRIDGE HOME income £12.4m
• CARE FOR VETERANS income £5.9m
• THE LEAGUE OF REMEMBRANCE income £89k
• THE ROYAL ANGLIAN REGIMENT CHARITY income £556k
• ROYAL CAMBRIDGE HOME LIMITED income £1.6m
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND SOLDIERS', SAILORS' & AIRMEN'S CLUBS income £1.1m

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.