100 days to Armed Forces Day as minister urges communities to bid for share of £500k fund

There are 100 days to go until Armed Forces Day, with the national event set to take place this year in Aldershot and Farnborough over the weekend of 27 and 28 June. 

Veterans and People Minister Louise Sandher-Jones is urging communities across the UK to bid for a share of a £500,000 MOD funding pot to help stage local events.

Community organisations can apply for grants of up to £10,000, with the deadline closing on 31 March.

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In an interview with BFBS Forces News, Mrs Sandher-Jones said Armed Forces Day was "a really important opportunity for us to reconnect between our Armed Forces and our communities".

"These days, I think a lot fewer of us have got a personal connection to somebody serving in our military who has served," the minister added. 

Mrs Sandher-Jones said the day could be marked in different ways, from coffee mornings and street parties to fairs, parades and music events, and urged local groups to start planning now.

The MOD grant scheme can cover up to half of an event's total cost, depending on its size and format. 

Funding can be used for practical costs such as road closures, promotion, security, first aid and insurance, but not for hospitality, accommodation, entertainment, military assets or VAT.

This year's national event will be centred on Queen's Parade in Aldershot, with Rushmoor Borough Council planning a weekend programme including a military parade, arena displays, music, food and community events.

Armed Forces Day is held on the last Saturday in June and grew out of Veterans Day, first marked in 2006 before taking its current name in 2009. 

The national host city or town acts as the focal point for hundreds of local events held around the country. Last year's host, Cleethorpes, welcomed more than 200,000 visitors over the weekend.  

The date of 27 June or the last week in June was chosen as it came the day after the anniversary of the first investiture of the Victoria Cross, in Hyde Park, London, in 1857.

Known as "the home of the British Army," the choice of Aldershot roots this year's celebrations in one of the UK's best-known garrison towns, with more than 170 years of military heritage and a long association with the Army.

The weekend programme will open with a school day on Friday 26 June, ahead of the national event on Saturday 27 June and a community day on Sunday 28 June.

Previous hosts have included Cleethorpes in 2025, Falmouth in 2023, Scarborough in 2022 and Salisbury in 2019.

As a veteran herself, Mrs Sandher-Jones also said the day meant a lot to personnel themselves, particularly when much of service life is out of public view.

"It really does mean a lot to personnel because a lot of the time we can be behind the wire and we're working away, and not everything we do can obviously be public," she said.

"And so to get out there and see that people are really interested in what we're doing and want to know more and want to show you their appreciation is a really good morale boost."