RMA – The Royal Marines Charity raised over £850,000 from its prestigious sold-out Guildhall Dinner in London on 8th November 2023, 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.
The welcome speech was delivered by General Gwyn Jenkins CB, OBE, ADC, Commandant General Royal Marines and the evening was hosted by Charity Ambassador and well-known broadcaster, Paddy O’Connell; celebrity auctioneer Charles Hanson conducted the live auction, and the Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines, Commando Training Centre Lympstone provided additional colourful pomp and ceremony to the evening.
The final highlight was the presentation of The Sir Donald Gosling Sword of Honour 2023 to Roofdec. This Yorkshire-based company, operated by the Barnes family, is one of the largest industrial roofing contractors in the country and has supported multiple former Royal Marines with employment opportunities.
This has included nurturing recruits who have been unable to complete training, giving them immediate employment, along with accommodation and subsistence. They continue to honour their commitment to enable vulnerable service leavers into meaningful second careers and have signed the Armed Forces Covenant, proudly supporting those who serve.
RMA – The Royal Marines Charity’s Director of Fundraising, Caroline Casey commented: “The Guildhall Dinner raises over 20% of the Charity’s annual income so is an incredibly important event for us. The income ensures that we can continue our wide-reaching service delivery, supporting serving and veteran Royal Marines and their families.
This year we were thrilled to have Keith Breslauer and Patron Capital as our Headline Sponsors once again, with Edgar Brothers joining us as an Event Partner and Olympian Homes sponsoring the Champagne. We simply could not deliver such a large-scale event without their support and the support of everyone who attended. We are already looking forward to 2024 when we will be pulling out all the stops to celebrate the 360th birthday of the Royal Marines.”
Last year, RMA – The Royal Marines Charity distributed over £3M in grants to beneficiaries, more than £1M more than in 2021, supporting 22,372 individuals, 2,690 of whom were in acute need.