NEWS AND EVENTS

September 2023

We have welcomed so many visitors, both regular and new, to our almshouse in recent years and have very much appreciated their support. This year we participated again and received some lovely visitor feedback :

• Very lovely staff and such a great event
• It was a good opportunity to learn about a property that I have never seen beyond the gate.
• would like to add the lovely ladies and gardener at Sir John Hawkins deserve a mention. We visited last year as well, the welcome and their tea and scones are well worth a visit. I always recommend to friends to try and visit.
• Happy to have visited somewhere that's not normally open. The volunteers were really kind and helpful and served a lovely cream tea.
• It was an enriching experience. The Guide was brilliant. The refreshments were lovely. It was good to finally see inside!

Details of all Heritage Open Day events throughout the country can be found at: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/  

The 425th anniversary of the signing of the hospital’s founding royal charter fell on 27 August 2019 and was celebrated by the residents with a fascinating guided tour of The Old Naval College in Greenwich. The party, headed by 92 year-old Alf Smith, who has lived at the hospital for the last 25 years, delved into the College’s many sights, from the bowling alley in the basement to the newly-restored magnificent Painted Hall. The wealth of history was vividly brought to life by the guide who combined a deep knowledge of site with a wry sense of humour.

Further events to mark the anniversary took place at the beginning of October, starting with a fund-raising dinner aboard HMS Victory, in Portsmouth.  Over 90 guests enjoyed a meal that was a masterpiece of clever menu planning and improvisation necessitated by the lack of any cooking facilities on the flagship.  Admiral Sir Alan Massey, a former Second Sea Lord, was the guest speaker and he adroitly knitted together his thoughts on the continuity of service exemplified by Sir John Hawkins Hospital, HMS Victory and the today’s Royal Navy.  Guests left the ship in the teeth of an October squall but the weather failed to dampen or dim the memory of a splendid evening.

The year’s celebrations culminated at The Annual National Service for Seafarers, held in St Paul’s Cathedral on 9 October. The hospital shared the limelight with Greenwich Hospital Trust as the year’s featured charities in front of a congregation of 1,800, headed by the Lord Mayor of London and including senior figures from the Admiralty Board, Trinity House and maritime professions and charities. The service was a memorable experience for the residents and governors present and it was agreed that Sir John Hawkins Hospital was now primed to face whatever the next 425 years might bring..