The government has committed nearly £70m to military charities and other good causes over the next five years.

Chancellor George Osborne announced in today’s Budget that money raised from banking fines will go towards charitable projects and good causes ranging from victim memorials to annuities for cross holders.

He also announced a further £3m for women's refuges.

The Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League will receive £5m to support former service men and women from the Commonwealth, while £3m will go to the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association to increase annuities for cross holders and pay for the charity’s 75th anniversary celebrations.

Some £2m will be spent on regenerating the National Memorial Arboretum memorial to ‘protect its long-term future’ and “preserve it for the next generation”, the Budget report said.

The Children’s Air Ambulance will receive £2m to increase the service to two helicopters by the end of 2016.

Ludlow Museum will receive £250,000, while US non-profit organisation Team Rubicon will get £2.5m to establish an organisation in the UK that uses ex-military personnel to support disaster relief efforts overseas. The Clock Tower Foundation will receive £3 million for a special forces rehabilitation centre.

The largest portion of the money  - £50m – will be spent on a Cadet Expansion Programme to increase the number of cadet units in state schools to 500 by 2020.

Some £1m will be spent on renovating RAF Uxbridge’s Battle of Britain Operations Room; while £500,000 will go towards “welfare services” to hospitalised members of the armed forces, “such as magazines” for the Defence Medical Welfare Services.

Steve Clapperton, campaigns manager at the Charities Aid Foundation, said: "It is good that George Osborne has provided some very public financial support to individual causes, ranging from the children's air ambulance to women's refuges and armed forces charities.
 
"Many voluntary organisations anticipate that demand for their work will increase over the coming years. With further pressure on the public finances and welfare spending, it will be important for government to work in collaboration with charities to use their expertise and make sure charities are not simply left to fill the austerity gap."

Women's refuges

The government will set up a £3m fund to "encourage innovative approaches including refuge provision to help those suffering from domestic abuse", the Budget document said.

"Ahead of the Spending Review, the government will draw together evidence from frontline professionals to review how services for victims of violence against women and girls are funded and delivered and feed into a refreshed Violence Against Women and Girls strategy in the autumn," the document said.