News

The Foundation is delighted to announce that Forces Children Scotland and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) will be the beneficiaries of this season’s Armed Forces Fund.

We’ve pledged to raise £10,000 to be split between the charities, who do incredible work to support the services community and their families.

Forces Children Scotland works directly with children and young people from Armed Forces and veteran families across Scotland, to co-produce projects, services, and campaigns to help them to realise their potential and thrive.

The charity delivers face-to-face and digital mental health and wellbeing services as well as youth forums and residential experiences to build confidence, develop new skills, expand aspirational horizons, and forge new friendships.

Moreover, the charity supports this community in standing up for their rights to encourage policymakers to adopt a children’s rights approach and provides financial help for young carers, students, and families.

It also works with educators, wider professionals, and decision-makers to enhance their understanding of the unique needs of this community through accredited face-to-face and digital CPD training modules.

Gary Seath, Marketing, Communications and Development Manager at Forces Children Scotland commented:

“We are deeply grateful to Rangers Football Club Charity Foundation for selecting Forces Children Scotland as one of their Military Charity Partners.

“The partnership means so much to our charity given the Foundation’s commitment to supporting the armed forces community.

“We look forward to working together to become a force for good in making a profound difference in the lives of over 13,000 children and young people from armed forces communities across Scotland, empowering them to overcome unique challenges associated with forces life, to stand up for their rights and to reach their full potential.”

TAPS is an American nonprofit organisation providing compassionate care and comprehensive resources for all those grieving a death in the military or veteran community.

Since 1994, TAPS has provided comfort and hope to surviving families and loved ones via a national peer support network and free, comprehensive grief resources.

Over the last two seasons, the Foundation has teamed up with TAPS to bring together bereaved military families from both Scotland and the US to connect over their shared experiences and celebrate their lost loved ones. The weekend’s activities included Stadium and Museum tours, a dinner together at the Stadium and the children of each family leading the teams out at Ibrox.

Our financial support of TAPS this season will allow this initiative to continue.

Diana Roday Hosford of TAPS commented: “TAPS is honoured and thrilled to be one of the Rangers Charity Foundation’s Armed Forces Fund beneficiaries.

“The once in a lifetime moments we have been able to create together for surviving military families from the US and Scotland at Ibrox have been incredibly meaningful.  The support and care and the wonderfully warm reception from Rangers fans has been so touching.”

“We are grateful for this ongoing partnership, knowing that the work we are doing together has an impact on the military community and surviving families from both countries.”

The Rangers Charity Foundation’s Chief Executive Connal Cochrane added: “Our commitment to supporting armed forces personnel, veterans and their families remains steadfast and, with the generous support of the Rangers Family, I’m delighted that our Armed Forces Fund will be assisting two such good causes this season.”

The Foundation has a long and proud tradition of working with services related charities and has donated over £251,000 in cash to armed forces and veterans’ charities to date, as well as significant in-kind support.

The Foundation was also a joint signatory, along with the Club, to the Armed Forces Covenant in 2016 and went on to become the first football club charity in the UK to receive the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme’s Gold Award from the Ministry of Defence in 2019, along with Rangers FC.

To find out more about this season’s Armed Forces Fund partners and the Foundation’s wider work with the services community, click HERE.