INEOS commits support to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre

INEOS has committed one of the largest corporate gifts ever made in the United Kingdom to help support the rehabilitation of members of the Armed Forces who have been wounded, injured or become sick as part of their military service. 

The gift, totalling £25.3 million, forms the centrepiece of a partnership between the firm and The Black Stork Charity, the organisation behind the new Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate in Nottinghamshire. 

INEOS’s funds will specifically be allocated to the new prosthetics wing at the DMRC, which will ensure that those who have lost limbs will get the very best treatment and support in the provision of artificial limbs.  The wing is to be named the ‘INEOS Prosthetics Wing’.

The concept of a creating a Defence rehabilitation establishment with the potential for a rehabilitation capability for NHS patients nearby on the same site was the initiative of the late 6th Duke of Westminster and has been developed by The Black Stork Charity through its Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre Programme, working with Government.  

The Ministry of Defence took over full tenancy of the new Defence establishment in 2018 and has been treating patients there since October last year.  It has replaced the former rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in Surrey.  The late Duke, and since his death in 2016 his son the 7th Duke, have led a campaign to raise £300m to build the new Defence establishment and the gift from INEOS will ensure that the fundraising campaign is completed.  

This remarkable gift was negotiated in late 2018 and paid in full to The Black Stork Charity in January 2019.

Despite their very serious injuries, many Servicemen and women survived during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan not least as a result of quick evacuation by helicopter and advanced treatment in field hospitals.  However, this achievement marks just the beginning of their recovery.  Combining neurological, complex trauma and a full suite of rehabilitation facilities, the DMRC is one of the world's most advanced clinical rehabilitation centres, providing the best possible care for members of the Armed Forces.  

There is also real potential for this expertise to benefit the country's civilian population through the first ever NHS specialist rehabilitation facility on the same site, sharing the Defence facilities and also enabling training and education of civilian staff , thereby having a long-term effect across the country.

In addition, INEOS and The Black Stork Charity will explore ways of using the inspirational stories of wounded veterans and their experience of rehabilitation in other elements of the company’s community activities, such as their Go Run For Fun programme which encourages children and young people to exercise and stay healthy.

Welcoming INEOS’s support, Andy Reid, an ambassador for The Black Stork Charity who experienced significant injury in Afghanistan and benefited from rehabilitation at Headley Court, said: “The journey back from major injury is tough and demanding.  I know from my own experience how important it is to have the right facilities as well as the correct expertise to help people through their rehabilitation.  The INEOS Prosthetics Wing will be hugely beneficial and make a massive difference to injured Servicemen and women and the skilled clinicians working at the DMRC.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, said: “There is no better cause than to help wounded Servicemen and women who were prepared to lay down their lives for their country.”

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Media contact:

Ben Copithorne / Emily Barnes at Camargue on 020 7636 7366 / dnrc@camargue.uk
Richard Longden at INEOS 0041 21 627 7063 or 0041 7996 26123 / richard.longden@ineos.com 

Notes to Editors:

About the DNRC Programme

  1. The Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) Programme is a remarkable initiative by the late 6th Duke of Westminster.  He served for  40 years in the British Reserve Army and witnessed the price paid by many members of the Armed Forces during their service.  He felt strongly that we owe those who volunteer to fight for our countries, alongside forces from other nations, the best possible care and rehabilitation if they are injured during strenuous training or in conflict.  It is this belief that inspired him to look into how this could best be achieved and resulted in the concept of a DNRC – which he was determined to make happen.
  2. The new Defence rehab facility on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate near Loughborough (now known as Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Stanford Hall) was handed over to the nation at a ceremony on 21 June 2018 involving the Duke of Westminster, the Duke of Cambridge, the Prime Minister and many of those involved in making it happen.
  3. The DMRC began treating patients in October 2018.  It is being run by the MoD and was provided as part of the DNRC Programme which is the means by which The Black Stork Charity achieves its charitable objects.  It was funded by private donations, the gift from the Grosvenor family amounting to £105 million.
  4. The concept of a ‘National’ facility for NHS patients was part of the DNRC Programme from the outset.  It was to follow on from construction of the Defence facility, offering an opportunity to combine, learn from and share expertise between Defence medicine and NHS medicine.  It is now being considered by the NHS, with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust as the sponsor of what is now known as the National Rehabilitation Centre (or NRC) Programme.  Planning permission for the National facility is in place and the site reserved for it is adjacent to the DMRC being about 400 metres to the west of it on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate.  
  5. Whilst The Black Stork Charity is not in a position to fund the National facility it has enabled its creation – not least by acquiring an estate large enough to accommodate it and achieving planning permission.  The total capital cost for the construction of the proposed NHS facility is estimated at approximately £100M of which £70M (as committed by Government in the 2018 Budget) would cover the cost of the patient care – the other constituents being education and training and R&D.
  6. More information at www.thednrc.org.uk 

About INEOS

INEOS has grown from a single site, in Antwerp in 1998, originally employing 400 people with a turnover of €200m.  Today, INEOS is one of the world’s largest chemicals companies and the 50th largest business in the world, employing around 20,000 people across 171 sites in 24 countries.  It is a privately owned company with sales in 2017 of $60bn and EBITDA of $7bn.  INEOS products make a significant contribution to saving life, improving health and enhancing standards of living for people around the world.  The company is highly focused on Safety Health and the Environment. 
For more information visit www.ineos.com



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Contacts for further information:

Ben Copithorne or Emily Barnes at Camargue on 020 7636 7366 or dnrc@camargue.uk