An introduction from our new Chairman: Major General Gerald Strickland DSO, MBE

On 13th September 2024 Major General Gerald Strickland DSO, MBE became the Chairman of The Gurkha Welfare Trust, taking over from Lieutenant General Richard Wardlaw OBE.

Major General Gerald Strickland is currently serving overseas and is Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas as well as the Chairman of the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

He has spent his military career serving with Gurkhas and completed operations around the world. He has also undertaken voluntary work and military service in Nepal.

Gerald brings a wealth of relevant experience to the role as Chair, as well as an enduring respect for the people of Nepal and our British Gurkha community – serving members, former members, and their families. Earlier this year he visited some of our Area Welfare Centres in Nepal and had the opportunity to speak to GWT staff and beneficiaries.

Our new Chairman writes to GWT CEO Al Howard outlining his enthusiasm for the task ahead and paying tribute to the work that has come before him:

It is an honour to take up the position of Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas and Chairman of the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

As you know, I have served our Gurkhas for the last 35 years. We have sat together around camp fires, slogged our way through swamps, polished our uniforms and marched with pride to the tune of our pipes and drums, sweated in the gym under the watchful eyes of our physical training instructors, honed our military skills in the snow and the heat, and above all, gone to war together. I could not have asked for better companions on that journey. Britain’s Gurkhas are my friends and we have stood side by side in the toughest of circumstances.

So the opportunity to chair our Trust, the welfare trust for Gurkhas, is as close to my heart as anything could be. We are blessed with the patronage of His Majesty The King, whose commitment to the Gurkha cause has been unwavering over the last 47 years. We have also been blessed to have had such a dedicated and inspiring Chairman in Lieutenant General Richard Wardlaw for the last four years. We owe him a huge amount for steering our charity through the hardest of times during COVID and its aftermath.

Sadly, the welfare needs of our Gurkha veterans have not gone away. Some of those who have served the British crown bear the scars of having done so, and others occasionally suffer great hardship. That is why we are here, to enable them to live with dignity; supported, cared for and respected for their service to Britain.

Jai Gurkha.

Major General Gerald Strickland