Veterans help preserve famous Fovant Badges
Chalk carvings get makeover thanks to local charity
Two of the ten famous Fovant Badges have been given a makeover thanks to the efforts of nine ex-Armed Forces personnel from local veterans’ charity Alabaré.
Over three weeks the team have been carefully restoring the chalk surface, removing weeds and helping to maintain two badges on the renowned heritage site. The Royal Signals Badge and The Centenary Poppy Badge have been the focus of the teams’ efforts, with the others set to be given a makeover in Spring 2023.
The veterans who have carried out this meticulous work are all from the charity Alabaré, which provides homes and services for veterans who have become homeless since leaving the Armed Forces, or who have struggled with their mental health and wellbeing. They are working in collaboration with the Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club and other veteran volunteers.
The dedicated group from Alabaré’s Boots on the Ground programme are focused on helping veterans improve their mental and physical wellbeing by taking part in activities in the outdoors.
Boots on the Ground Lead Manager, and Royal Signals veteran, Neil Hunt says;
“Given a task of this magnitude and short time span, taking in the in-climate weather and the challenging 30-degree slope, the team from Alabaré, led by our Boots on the Ground Manager Karen did a simply outstanding job on the maintenance of this incredibly important heritage site. The team ethos, enthusiasm and commitment were evident from start to finish. As an Ex-Warrant Officer of the Royal Signals of 23 years’ service I am incredibly proud and humbled to witness the incredible work done to maintain this part of our history.”
Andy has benefited from Alabaré’s support and is one of the veterans taking part.
“Most of the Forces around the world know about the Fovant Badges and some of the history behind it because of the boys who camped here and made it.”
“Taking part is fantastic, I feel me again really. I wouldn’t have wanted to this seven years ago, I didn’t want to work with anybody, I didn’t want to talk to anybody, and I didn’t want to see anybody, I’d much rather me walking on my own over the ridge. I did that for three-four years nearly.”
The Fovant Badges mark the location of a vital accommodation training camps set up for troops travelling to and from the front line during the first world war, some 20,000 recruits every 6 weeks! As a token of their regimental pride and latterly in remembrance of their many comrades who did not return from the war, several regiments carved their cap badges into the chalk hills. Many of these replica insignia did not survive, but at the end of the war there were twenty that were clearly discernible. Twelve of these are visible from the A30 through Fovant, Compton Chamberlain and Sutton Mandelville.
Leslie Brantingham, Conservation Officer for the Fovant Badges Society is grateful for the charity's help.
"In an amazingly short run-in from the initial introduction Alabaré had boots on the ground, literally! The Alabaré team did a fantastic job in no time flat in restoring the faces of these two badges, a great achievement as no-one had had any previous experience of working on these slopes. It is challenging and Alabaré and the team rose to that challenge with determination and good humour.“
The veterans’ team from Alabaré will continue to work on the ongoing maintenance of the badges over the coming years, ensuring that these symbols of our country’s military heritage are preserved for years to come.