Charity work

OUR CHARITY WORK

All profits go to our charity work

OUR CHARITABLE STATUS

The Club gained formal charitable status in 1883. Under the current 1998 charitable scheme, amended in 2006 “beneficiaries” are serving and former seafarers, including members of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Merchant Fleet However, In addition, Membership of the club is open to all serving and retired members of all the Armed Forces and their families. To keep up to date, the Trustees are able to change the scheme, with the consent of the Charity Commission.

You can find details of our AGMs here.

156th AGM May 2022

157th AGM May 2023

GOVERNANCE OF THE CHARITY

The Club is governed by a Board of seven unpaid Trustees who also act as Directors of the Hotel. They are responsible to the Charity Commission and operate under the Charity Acts and a formal Governance Statement, the latest of which was adopted on 18th September 2020. The Honorary President of the Club is the Commanding Officer of HMS Nelson, the Royal Navy Dockyard.

THE CHARITY AND THE HOTEL

The Portsmouth Royal Maritime Club charitable trust owns the freehold of the whole building and runs the Royal Maritime Hotel through a limited company as a commercial business, to generate funds for its charitable work.

NO ORDINARY HOTEL

The Royal Maritime Hotel is thus no ordinary hotel, with no owners or shareholders needing dividends, all our surpluses are devoted to charitable activities.

The Hotel is run by professional staff appointed by the Trustees, has 3 star status and recently won the 2022 Rose awarded by Visit England.

The entire Hotel is open to the general public - there is no requirement to be a Member in order to stay here. The Hotel offers a perfect venue for conferences, weddings, christenings, anniversary and other parties, such as Balls, Dinners, Sunday Lunches and more.

Downstairs we have our atmospheric ”Below Decks” events and meeting room, an accessible pool, jacuzzi, sauna, billiards and a skittle alley. With over 80 ensuite bedrooms adjacent to the wall of the Historic Dockyard and a short stroll from the Gun Wharf Quays designer outlet and entertainment centre, the Hotel is in a perfect location for holidays and short breaks.

WHAT WE OFFER

The Hotel provides free or reduced cost accommodation for the Club’s Beneficiaries, discounts for Members, events and facilities for other charities. We also house another charity, Veterans Outreach Support, which provides long-term support to veterans and organises a monthly open day bringing charities and council service providers together. You can access more details in the Club’s annual accounts on the Charity Commissioners website.

The Club has over 8,000 Members of whom 7,500 are serving or retired seafarers, soldiers or airmen. Police, Fire and Ambulance service members, volunteers from the RNLI and members of our local community make up the rest. The Club has a Bond of Friendship with HMS Prince of Wales in honour of our Royal Patron at the time of her first commissioning.

PLAQUES AND MEMORABILIA

Around the Hotel you will notice a wealth of Royal Navy and Marine memorabilia, including paintings, photos, prints and maritime artifacts, as well as the plaques bearing individual ship’s crests or logos of Service charities.

The charities have, over the years, sponsored improvements to the Club buildings and facilities. See if you can spot Help for Heroes (H4H), Seafarers' UK, The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and the Government Covenant Fund. Individual members leave us bequests and the most recent was Donald Wickens, a club life member of many years standing, whose generosity we remember with gratitude.

GET INVOLVED

Donations and grants are always needed to improve our facilities.

Thank you

To the Veterans' Foundation have recently donated £25,000 for a wheelchair accessible lift for our Veterans Outreach Support Offices and the Hood Room which are the last spaces to be made accessible as part of our 'Access All Areas' projects.

The Club participates in the Portsmouth City Lottery. Sign up for a chance to win cash prizes each month – 50% of your ticket money goes to the Club !

We believe that keeping all our facilities smart and shipshape is an important tribute to our partner charities and all our Guests, Members and Beneficiaries.

Booking Direct Supports our Charity work

One of the most important ways in which you can help us is by always booking direct with our Reception Desk on 023 9298 2182 or via our own website rather than using expensive (to us) booking agencies.

JOIN OUR TEAM OF HISTORY VOLUNTEERS

The Coronation of our Royal Patron His Majesty King Charles III gave us the impetus to do more to memorialise the Club. The Club was founded we think between about 1851 and 1857 in a single building in Queen Street. At its busiest it had room for 650 sailors and occupied 5 houses, with more land behind.

The Blitz sadly destroyed the buildings and most of the Club records, so we need amateur sleuths to research Census returns, City maps and Directories in Portsmouth Central Library, to help build up a picture of the Club’s work in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

FIND OUT MORE

If you would like to join us and help with the research, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Tricia Howse, Vice Chair of Trustees at TriciaGhowse@gmail.com for more information.