Medway's first Veterans' Wellbeing Fair is on Saturday 10 October, and it waives the Royal Engineers Museum's £17.50 adult admission from 10am to 2pm.

Medway’s first Veterans’ Wellbeing Fair takes place at the Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham on Saturday 10 October, from 10am to 2pm.

Entry to the museum is free for anyone attending during those four hours. That is worth £17.50 for an adult at the standard rate, or £15 on the museum’s local adult ticket, according to the museum’s own price list. Its tickets are valid for 12 months, so a free ticket picked up on the day should cover return visits for a year.

There is no booking. The fair is aimed at veterans, serving personnel and their families, but Medway Council says everyone is welcome.

Who will be there

More than 30 organisations had signed up when the council announced the fair on 25 August. Named so far:

  • Samaritans
  • Barclays
  • Medway Adult Education
  • Healthwatch Medway
  • Chatham Medway West Kent Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club
  • Royal Naval Association Chatham
  • Kent Association for the Blind
  • Medway Public Health

The council says the fair is designed to bring together support for mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing in one room.

Why 10 October

The date is World Mental Health Day.

Cllr Ron Sands, Medway Council’s Armed Forces Champion, said the day “provides an important opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges some veterans can face after leaving the Armed Forces”, and that the fair “will showcase the wealth of help available across Medway and beyond”.

Cllr Vince Maple, the council’s leader, said Medway “has a proud military history and as a council we are committed to supporting the whole Armed Forces family as best we can”.

Medway is a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant and retained a Gold Award in the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Employer Recognition Scheme earlier this year.

The venue is not incidental. The Royal Engineers Museum sits at the top of Prince Arthur Road in Brompton, and gives free entry to serving Sappers all year round.

What it means for you

  • Saturday 10 October, 10am to 2pm, Royal Engineers Museum, Prince Arthur Road, Gillingham ME7 1UR. The museum asks drivers to use ME7 1SA for sat navs.
  • No ticket needed. Free entry applies between 10am and 2pm on the day.
  • The museum is normally open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm, so the fair sits inside a normal opening day and the rest of the collection is open around it.
  • The Courtyard cafe is open from 10.30am to 3.30pm, and there is a picnic area outside among the military vehicles.
  • Getting there without a car: the nearest stations are Gillingham and Chatham, and the museum says it is a twenty minute walk from Gillingham station through the high street. The 156 bus stops outside the museum by Mid Kent College. Our guide to Medway train times to London covers the line.

Other events across the district are listed on our things to do in Medway page.

Sources