Royal Star & Garter Home

View of the Royal Star & Garter Home from Richmond Park

The Royal Star & Garter Charity has been caring for disabled ex-Service personnel since 1916 offering the best in nursing and residential care plus a range of therapies for anyone who is physically disabled or incapacitated and has served in Her Majesty's Forces.

The Royal Star & Garter Charity was established in 1916 to care for the severely disabled young men returning from the battlegrounds of the First World War. It was Queen Mary who first expressed concern for the future of these young men, and Her Majesty charged the British Red Cross Society with the task of finding a "permanent haven" for them. At this time, the old Star & Garter Hotel on Richmond Hill was up for sale and had fallen into a state of dilapidation. The Auctioneers and Estate Agents Institute raised the funds to purchase it and the deeds were handed to Queen Mary who, in turn, entrusted the building to the British Red Cross. The British Red Cross Society appointed an independent Board of Governors to run the "Star and Garter" as it became and Queen Mary became the first Patron.

On the 14th January 1916, the Star & Garter Home opened to admit the first 65 residents, who were accommodated in the old hotel's ballroom and banqueting hall.

It soon became clear that the old hotel was impractical as a long term home and it was, therefore, decided to demolish it and erect a new purpose built home. The British Women's Hospital Committee launched a world-wide appeal for funds to build the new home, and they were remarkably successful, raising nearly 10 million in today's terms. The Architect, Sir Edwin Cooper made a gift of his services and personally supervised the building work. Residents were moved to temporary accommodation at Sandgate, near the coast in Kent.

The new Home was opened on 10th July 1924 by King George V and Queen Mary and dedicated as the Women of the Empire's Memorial of the Great War.

See www.starandgarter.org for more information.

The Home on the Hill:
The Story of The Royal Star & Garter Home

This new book will celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the founding of The Royal Star & Garter Home and its subsequent history to the present day.

See www.starandgarter.org for more information.