Our charity work
The Royal Maritime Club is no ordinary hotel

The club – known familiarly for over 160 years as the “Home” Club – is an active charitable trust that owns its land and buildings. It also owns a trading company which runs the hotel building to generate surpluses for charitable activities.
The Club has over 8,000 members of whom 7,500 are serving or retired sailors (from both the Royal Navy and the Merchant Fleet), Royal Marines, soldiers or airmen, with police officers, fire and ambulance service members, volunteers from the RNLI and members of our local community make up the rest. Our patron is HRH the Prince of Wales. You can access our annual accounts on the Charity Commissioners website.

Our charitable activities

Our charitable objectives, in a nutshell, are “the provision of accommodation, recreation and leisure time occupation” for our beneficiaries and “the relief of hardship and distress” amongst seafarers and their families. This enables the club to offer free or reduced cost respite holidays and to make its facilities available to other naval and military charities.

The club is home to Veterans Outreach Support, a charity which provides ex-servicemen and women with regular access to specialist help and counselling. The Club hosts special events throughout the year for Service children, families and military reunions.

Recent grants and donations

During 2014 the club was given a generous grant by Help for Heroes (H4H) which enabled the Club to build and equip a new disabled suite, install a disabled lift to serve the Trafalgar Ballroom and its balcony, re-build the main disabled loo and refurbish existing disabled bedrooms. H4H Bands of Brothers and Sisters are now reciprocal members of the club.

The club also received grants from Seafarers' UK and the RNRM Charity which paid for refurbishment of the reception floor restrooms. We also receive smaller donations throughout the year from generous members. In 2016 the Club received a very generous bequest in the will of the late Donald Wickens, a Club life member of many years standing.

In 2016 the club received a substantial grant from the Government Covenant Fund to refurbish part of the Club's lower ground floor. Work has included:

• a new Below Decks clubroom, decorated with a warship engine room theme; to provide flexible space for events, meetings, group therapy or break out groups.
• new changing rooms for our small swimming pool, incorporating a specially equipped disabled changing room and a platform lift to the pool.
• hydrotherapy equipment including a poolside hoist, underwater massage jets and exercise bars to complement the existing Jacuzzi.
• a new Therapy Room, with comfy chairs for private chats and plenty of space for physical therapies.
• a new platform lift from the Reception Hall to the Below Decks area.

These, together with a refurbished Below Decks floor Reception foyer form the Covenant Recreation, Recovery and Rehabilitation Centre which will better serve our beneficiaries’ and members’ needs as well as augmenting the Club’s public facilities generally.

Because all Club hotel and catering profits are donated to our Trust to fund our charitable activities, donations and grants are always needed to improve our facilities. The Club is now participating in the Portsmouth City Lottery. Buy tickets at the Club for a chance to win each month - plus 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 members and beneficiaries. Please help us in any way you can.
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