‘Welly-wanging’ intrigues locals at SSAFA Germany’s summer fête

06 August 2024

SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity has branches across the UK and in many countries worldwide.

One of the overseas branches with arguably the largest cohort of potential beneficiaries and volunteers is in Germany, which, according to some sources, has nearly 170,000 UK citizens in the country as of 2021.

Migration took place because of WWII and the subsequent Allied occupation of Germany, and later with both nations as members of the European Union, and because of the vast numbers of British military personnel who served in first West then a unified Germany. Add their dependents and the figure could easily be around 250,000 - 300,000, with an almost unquantifiable number of them veterans.

Typical, but nonetheless still important issues the veterans in Germany are facing are post-Brexit issues, residency issues, citizenship and financial, issues, cost of living increases and resettlement to UK, and the Germany branch assists many people each year.

The Hotel Heide Residenz in Paderborn was the congenial setting for the recent annual general meeting of the SSAFA Germany branch where volunteers old and new and their families met.

There was also a summer fête held by the branch at Normandy Barracks, Sennelager.

SSAFA Germany volunteer Sharon Kelly said: “Thankfully the weather held out on the day and a fun day was had by all. The splendid work of the volunteers made the event a success and included fun games for the attendees, traditional games such as welly wanging and a coconut shy was on offer at the colourful SSAFA stand, and this great day out help raise some funds for SSAFA Germany branch. The splendid work of the volunteers made this event a huge success and of course we had some traditional British cuisine: curry!”

Sharon added: “The AGM is a vital part of the serious business of running a busy SSAFA branch overseas, volunteers were able to share experiences and knowledge to help them support our veteran community even more.

“We’re extremely proud of our long-standing heritage and of all the work we do with veterans and serving personnel – and their families – in Germany, anyone who’d like to get in touch for support or to volunteer should visit ssafa.org.uk/germany.”