It will be a family day out to support injured members of the Armed Forces when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge join the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall for a special joint engagement. The Prince of Wales’s diary notes that the family will visit the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) Stanford Hall in Stanford on Soar next Tuesday.
The royal foursome will meet patients and staff at the Nottinghamshire-based facility, which is the UK’s leading centre for clinical rehabilitation of those in the Armed Forces. The DMRC welcomed its first patients in autumn 2018, and the Duke of Cambridge officially opened the building, along with serving as patron of the appeal to build the new centre.
The building was entirely funded by charitable donations and replaced Headley Court in Surrey, where the Duke of Cambridge also has visited in the past, as well as Prince Harry, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
The new centre provides wounded warriors with a range of care including physical rehabilitation, occupational therapy, neurological care, and more, combining technology with proven therapy. The facilities include specialised gyms, swimming and hydrotherapy pools, a gait lab, and courtyards designed for relaxation and socialisation.
According to the DMRC’s website, “The idea of creating a 21st-century version of the existing Defence rehab centre, Headley Court in Surrey, in a new location to serve the future needs of serving members of the Armed Forces came from the 6th Duke of Westminster.”
The late duke, who served in the Reserve Army for 40 years, raised the idea in summer 2008. Sadly, the duke didn’t live to see the new facility, but his goal to “ensure that seriously injured sailors, soldiers and members of the RAF would feel looked after and get the best possible care” was realized when the DMRC opened in 2018.
