OMV - History

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OMV History
The Origin of the Order of Malta:
The Order of Malta dates back to around 1048, when a group of European Catholic men began helping pilgrims on their journey to the Holy Land. They cared for travellers on their way, by building hostels and hospitals en route. The Knights, as they later became, cared for people of all faiths. The Knights went to Rhodes after they lost Jerusalem, and later to Malta where their name originates. The Order of Malta is present in over a hundred countries and has been in Great Britain since the mid eleven hundreds. The British Association of the Order of Malta was set up in 1875 to increase the work of the Order in the UK.
The foundation of the OMV:
The OMV started with a meeting in 1973 between the then acting Hospitaller of the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (BASMOM), Mr. Gervase Elwes and his confrere Mr. Andrew Bertie, a teacher at Worth Abbey School
This meeting was to discuss the idea of a group of young being attached to the British Association. Mr. Bertie had been taking boys to Lourdes for many years and had been suggesting starting a youth organization of this kind since 1970. Dom Philip Jebb was also keen on bringing a group from Downside. He had met up with Mr. Bertie at Worth in the 1960’s whilst taking Downside groups with Dom Philip Jebb. Mr. Elwes also suggested inviting Redrice School and the children of the Ladies Association of the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth.
On the 14th February 1974 the SMOM schools pilgrimage became official. It was set up to: recruit new members for the Knights May pilgrimage recruit new members for BASMOM train young people in the mechanics of Lourdes The new name of the group was highly debated for a while as there were questions of whether it should be known as the Downside and Worth pilgrimage. Finally they settled on the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) Pilgrimage. The first pilgrimage took place from 19 July to 26 July. There were forty three pilgrims, consisting of three Knights, five monks from Worth and Downside, three members of the Order, four sons and daughters, seven boys and friends from Downside, twenty two Worth boys and two from the Ladies’ committee. They travelled by train and plane. The overall price ranged from £59-£65.60. The proposed uniform was SMOM armbands, SMOM medals and white headdresses for the girls. At the time the minimum age for constitutional pilgrimage members was 21- younger pilgrims were aspirant pilgrims until they reached 21. Mayfield girls also joined the pilgrimage in the following year. Pilgrims were required to be young people who were prepared to serve the sick prayerfully good Catholics willing to learn first aid and help the Order.
	Whilst on pilgrimage, the girls stepped in to help The Catholic Union of Sick (CUS) who had arrived on pilgrimage from Glasgow with fifty-four hospitalized pilgrims, one doctor, six nurses and an insufficient amount of helpers. Their pilgrimage leader was Madge Coll who was herself in a wheelchair. This connection with the CUS was to last for several years. During this year, the name The Order of Malta Volunteers first appears in various correspondences. Cecil Humphrey-Smith invented the name and Andrew Bertie became the first Chairman.
In 1976 the first OMV committee was set up, co-coordinated by Cecil Humphrey-Smith with support from Gilbert Monkton. Following this, the 1976 pilgrimage was for the first time to be organized into equipes. These consisted of seven male equipes containing 6/7 men. The ladies were split into bath and hospital teams. Some of the helpers stayed on for a second week to help the CUS. The first two OMV doctors joined the pilgrimage. They were Dr Peter Wren and Dr Tom Taylor. They ensured that the OMV were trained in first aid during the pilgrimage. The subscription to the OMV was £3.00 and there were about fifty members aged between 16 and 24. That same year during a retreat at Downside, a sponsored walk took place to Glastonbury on Palm Sunday in aid of the OMV, starting off the OMV’s long legacy of fundraising activities. In 1977 Dom Philip Jebb became a Chaplain of the Order. The OMV bank account was opened and more fundraising events started to take place such as the first carol singing in several London hotels. In November 1977 Andrew Bertie retired as Chairman and John Monkton took over. In 1978 a constitution for the OMV was finally drawn up and approved by the council of the Order and the OMV committee. The first OMV Ball took place on 7 January. It was held at the Anglo Belgian Club and the money raised was used to fund a mini-bus for The Order of Malta Homes Trust. The tickets cost 10 guineas for dinner and 6 guineas for ‘after dinner’. £2,500 was raised. A second ball, The White Knights Ball, was held on 16 December in the Ball Room, Grosvenor House. Today it is now the biggest established ball of its size held in London.
The 1978 pilgrimage to Lourdes saw the introduction of the first OMV banner, made by Elise Hobbs. The first OMV retreat was also held in this year. Overall 1978 saw the OMV gain a £5,500 profit. In 1979 another great OMV tradition was born as Arthur Bond left a cottage and school hall in Walsingham to the knights. The OMV were asked to raise money to convert the hall into a hostel and restore the cottage when it became vacant. Today this house hosts a group of OMV-ers and knights every September on the annual weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham. Over the years since 1973 the OMV has been growing in size and ability. Events such as the Lourdes Pilgrimage and the White Knights Ball have gradually and yet continually developed to take on new challenges. In 1990 The White Knights Ball raised 17000 pounds- a profit that has been rising bit by bit since then. It has even lived to reach its 25th Anniversary which we celebrated at the 2009 ball.

1990 was also the beginning of the OMV’s weekends to Walsingham, as the Walsingham complex and development was finally completed. This has now become a well established yearly event in the OMV calendar. But probably most astounding is how the OMV Lourdes Pilgrimage has now grown to taking around 400 volunteers and around 50-60 hospitalised pilgrims. For more information on the roots of the OMV please see below:
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Foreign Aid Service

General information
	OMV Calendar
	Donate to the OMV

Contact the OMV
OMV secretary:	Amilia Rappak secretary@omv.org.uk 07905 941 114
OMV Chairman:	James Grew 07709 018 082

The OMV is a registered charity

58 Grove End Road, London NW8 9NE.
Registered charity number 1103567

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