The Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL) provides support (Food Grants) to ex-service men and women living in Commonwealth countries who at some time served the British Crown prior the independence of their country.

RCEL currently has 52 Member Organisations in 46 countries, covering the Caribbean, West, East and Southern Africa, the Indian sub-continent to Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Australasia. The food grants provide an equivalent of two meals a day for each beneficiary. Our key objective is to ensure that no eligible veteran nor their widow shall be without our support if in need. 

The significant investment RCEL has received from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) over the years has enabled us to deliver improved resilience, governance and the much-needed food grants.  We thank FCDO on behalf of all beneficiaries from across the Commonwealth who served The Crown and have been kept nourished during this time.

We also rely on the good work and dedication of our volunteers; Board of Trustees and Commonwealth Council Members based in the UK, and those in Commonwealth countries who dedicate and commit so much of their time and energy to ensure delivery of these grants to all our beneficiaries. 

All key operational matters are handled at our HQ London Office. We have 6 staff members and conduct several Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) visits annually to our Member Organisations to satisfy our contractual requirements under the FCDO Accountable Grant Arrangement (AGA).  Please visit our Welfare pages and read our reports which provide insight into how our members organisations operate and the lives of some of our beneficiaries. 

We have over 3,300 beneficiaries in need of support, RCEL is committed to providing matched funding for the FCDO Commonwealth Veterans Programme and to keep our side of the arrangement. We therefore rely on the generosity of the UK Service Charities and many others who support us. Please consider making a donation by clicking on Donate Now at the top of this page, we are truly grateful for all donations received.