RMA – The Royal Marines Charity raised in excess of £931,000 from our prestigious Guildhall Dinner in London on 30th November 2022, with pledges of support still being received.
Attended by over 500 guests including dignitaries, corporate and individual supporters, serving and veteran Royal Marines, the annual Dinner is the Charity’s flagship fundraising event and the monies raised are used towards providing lifelong support to the Royal Marines Family.
Since 2008, we have distributed £23m in grants, and last year alone supported 22,000 individuals, 2,794 of whom were in acute need.
This was the Charity’s sixth Guildhall Dinner and guests were greeted by the rousing music of The Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines, Portsmouth. They provided additional colourful pomp and ceremony throughout the often-times emotionally-charged evening which was hosted by television presenter, Invictus Games medallist and former Royal Marine JJ Chalmers; with MC Lieutenant Colonel Jason Burcham, Principal Director of Music Royal Marines.
The Live Auction is always one of the highlights of the evening, and this year was no exception. Lord Jeffrey Archer took charge over proceedings in achieving the very best bids possible for the 9 exceptional lots up for grabs, many of which were unique or bespoke.
Items included Commando Mindset resilience training; RM Sniper and Winter Deployment experiences; the one-of-a-kind re-designed, hand-built Royal Enfield 650cc ’Bootneck’ motorcycle generously donated by Edinburgh’s Saltire Motorcycles attracting particular interest with some fast and passionately enthusiastic bidding: and there was a Silent Auction running alongside giving those not attending on the night the opportunity to share some of the action, too.
During the evening, inspiring videos and speeches highlighted the scope of support offered by RMA – The Royal Marines Charity. These included moving reflections by beneficiaries and the latest videos in its powerful ‘Lifting The Lid’ campaign which seeks to promote positive mental health in the Corps Family.
The final highlight was the presentation of The Sir Donald Gosling Sword of Honour 2022 to David Lindberg, CEO of Retail Banking for the NatWest Group
The sword is presented annually to the business that has provided the most significant support to RMA – The Royal Marines Charity over the past 12 months.
The Sir Donald Gosling Sword is a Royal Marines Officers’ Sword individually commissioned in 2014 to celebrate the 350th Anniversary of the Royal Marines.
Sir Donald Gosling was a tremendous supporter of RMA and other Naval Service charities and it is the wish of his family that his name, legacy and association with RMA continues through the annual presentation of The Sir Donald Gosling Sword of Honour.
In thanking the generosity of leading sponsors, Keith Breslauer and Patron Capital, and all those who made the evening such a success, Mrs Lynn Fordham, Chair of Trustees RMA – The Royal Marines Charity, said: “We extend a truly heartfelt thank you to everyone involved and to all who so generously dug-deep during these particularly challenging economic times.
Next year, we face a bleak environment for generating the income we need to continue our life-changing and life-saving work so this has been critically important in raising a significant proportion of the funds we need. Be assured we are committed to ensuring that the support the Charity provides remains as cost-effective as it can be in even better service of an extraordinary force and community – the Royal Marines Family.”