SOS Club and Friends
The SOS Club and Friends is a Sunday afternoon social group based in Pattaya, Thailand. Formed in 2015 the group began visiting bars that had a Royal British Legion poppy box. There is no membership, rank or rules, purely a social gathering.
Membership has grown from a handful to over 500 members and friends. The club has visited over 90 different venues, held over 700 meetings and raised over 1.5 million Thai baht (£34,000).
Registered fundraisers for SSAFA, the armed forces charity, and supporters of other local deserving causes, our method statement is to put the FUN into fundraising!
Sir James Gildea was a British Army Militia officer who served with an ambulance unit in the Franco-Prussian war. Later he raised money for the families of those killed in the Zulu War of 1879 and the Second Afghan War of 1880.
When the Second Expeditionary Force set sail for Egypt in February 1885, Major (later Colonel Sir) James Gildea wrote a letter to The Times appealing for money and volunteers to help the military families left behind at home.
A fund was set up to provide allowances. Soon Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales (the future Queen Alexandra) became the first president of what was then called the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families Association (SSFA).
Following the founding of the Royal Air Force in 1918, our president Queen Alexandra suggested the organisation should change its name to the Soldiers’, Sailors’ & Airmen’s Families Association (SSAFA).
SSAFA was granted a Royal Charter of Incorporation in January 1926. Following a review of governance, a new revised Royal Charter & Rules came into effect in January 2014.
Their support covers both regulars and reserves in the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the British Army and the Royal Air Force and their families, including anyone who has completed National Service
SSAFA provides support wherever it is needed in the UK and worldwide. Our volunteer network reaches into every county of the UK and 11 countries around the world, including Thailand! We coordinate our activities from our central office in London and via our regional teams and committees.
SSAFA is honoured and privileged to have His Majesty King Charles III as our Patron and HRH Prince Michael of Kent as President
