Edition 101
As a valued supporter, we are pleased to bring you up-to-speed with a weekly round-up of activities from RMA – The Royal Marines Charity and the wider Corps Family.
This week, it’s been a particularly busy one for many of our teams; there’s news of some Royal appointments, and we bring you up to speed with those gearing up for a sensational summer of adventure!
Thank you as always for your valued support.
News Update

Our ‘£360 for 360’ campaign that ties in with the 360th anniversary of our fantastic Royal Marines this year has really caught the imagination of our wonderful fundraisers who are coming up with all sorts of wild and wonderful ways to contribute towards helping the Charity offer life-long support to the Royal Marines Family.
This week, we have been thrilled to hear from former RM Patrick Townsend that he is now over half-way through his own ‘360 for 360’ challenge – a 300-mile circular walk starting and ending at Stonehouse Barracks in Plymouth, Devon, wild-camping and meeting up with some fellow Bootnecks along the way. If all goes to plan, he will be back in Plymouth on 31st May. You can support him here.
And huge thanks to another of our much-valued ‘serial’ fundraisers, Nicola Harrison, who recently took on the more whacky 10km Exeter inflatable challenge, raising yet more much-needed funds for RMA – The Royal Marines Charity. Brilliant!
Gearing Up

With the last full team training run not due till the end of June, the incredible team of 12 former Royal Marines from all around the UK – all of whom are over the age of 45 – are somehow managing to juggle exhausting individual fitness regimes with full-time jobs so they can be fit enough to tackle the daunting Royal Marines Veterans Speed March (VSM).
On 21st July, they will run a 26-mile (42km) marathon around the streets of London in full military kit, carrying 40lb (18kg) back-packs, hoping to finish in less than five hours.
The event is the brainchild of retired RM RSM Barry ‘Baz’ Gray to primarily promote, share, and raise awareness of veterans’ mental health issues but also to fundraise for RMA – The Royal Marines Charity.
In an unexpected opportunity to further boost fundraising, the range of VSM-customised clothing Baz has designed for the team – and which has caught the imagination of many who are closely following their training runs – is now available for sale online with £5 from every purchase being donated to RMA – The Royal Marines Charity.
The challenge has grown beyond that of involving just the team, with many military veterans, sponsors and others already having committed to run behind the team in the same military fashion – but without the added weight!
If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of, then Baz would be delighted to hear from you – e-mail [email protected]
He says: “Having a project to focus on and a purpose in life can transform it from one of utter boredom and depression to one of excitement and fulfilment. This event is already changing lives and inspiring many veterans to get up, get active and find a bit of their old selves. We want to grow it, share it and transform as many more lives as we can.”
Royal appointments

“A truly wonderful day and an experience that we are proud to have had the opportunity to be part of,” was just part of the feedback received from the seven couples referred by RMA – The Royal Marines Charity for the privilege to attend last Friday’s Buckingham Palace Garden Party, where Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal was the senior Royal in attendance.
The couples, which included RMA Support Volunteers (RMASV) and beneficiaries, were referred by our Health & Wellbeing team to the ‘The Not Forgotten’, one of the many charities with which we enjoy an excellent relationship and regularly collaborate with.
Pictured with Yeomen Guards on duty, one of which was Yeoman Warder and former Corps RSM RM Eric Conway MBE (right), are RMASV Jim Giles and wife Sharron (left); and Colin Brown with his wife, Ruth.
And earlier in the week, Princess Anne was the guest of honour at the two-day Annual Veterans’ Mental Health Conference sponsored by the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) Research Centre to which members of our Health & Wellbeing and Employment and Education teams were privileged to attend.
The Conference gave a platform to individuals from across service provision, government, and research sectors to present current topical evidence with the aim to create real-world change and benefits for UK ex-Service personnel and their families. Alongside listening to many fascinating talks and presentations, the team took advantage of the beneficial networking opportunities.
Never forgotten

With 2024 marking the 360th birthday of the Royal Marines, the annual Graspan Parade in London was an extra special event, bringing together many present and past members of the Corps, alongside RM cadets, in what was the largest turn-out in many years.
It is the only parade dedicated to the remembrance of the Royal Marines and so is an immensely important and moving event in the life of the Corps, drawing members of the Corps Family from across the UK and also many attending from overseas.
The procession stepped off from Horse Guards Parade accompanied by HM Royal Marines Band and marched to the Graspan Memorial where a service was held to remember all those who have fallen.
The Graspan Memorial is named after the Battle of Graspan in 1899 during the Boer Wars in South Africa. It was re-dedicated in 2000 to honour those Royal Marines lost in subsequent conflicts and is engraved: ‘In honour of all Royal Marines who have served their country by land and sea and who are forever remembered by their friends.’

In April, our Health & Wellbeing team processed 65 welfare and benevolence grants totalling £59,500, including those to eight serving personnel and 55 RM veteran. This covered everything from compassionate travel costs, emergency housing, funeral costs, and essential clothing and an electronic tablet for a former Royal Marine recently released from prison to aid his rehabilitation
Our Veterans Mental Health Referral and Addiction teams took on 11 new cases, the AFCFS/Pensions team added nine cases to their existing caseload: and the RMA team supported 14 funerals.
Team Players

Members of our Fundraising and Communications teams have been out and about in Devon in recent weeks. They joined over 40 of our wonderful volunteers to help out with the bucket collections at the Exeter Chiefs last rugby match of the season at their home ground at Sandy Park. We are extremely thankful for the ongoing support received from the Exeter Chiefs Foundation, which at the end of the year will generously present the Charity with a share of the season’s bucket collections.
Then last weekend, it was over to the Military Village at the Devon County Show to raise awareness of RMA – The Royal Marines Charity and test-drive our new, eye-catching customised ‘usherette’ trays!
Heading for eastern shores

Kōun o… good luck and all our best wishes for a safe and hugely successful cycle challenge go to fab fundraiser Danny Ensor, a 32-year-old ex-military Commando from Redditch, who heads off to Japan next week after many months of training and exhaustive planning for a month-long, 2,361-mile extreme cycle ride in memory of his uncle.
He has named his ‘Zulu Commandos’ charity fundraiser for RMA – The Royal Marines Charity to honour former Royal Marine Chris ‘Brummie’ Dooley from 45 Commando Zulu Company, who tragically suffered a cardiac arrest last year just months after retiring.
Danny explains: “Like my uncle, I also joined the military and completed the Commando course, earning my Green Lid as he did. It made me feel like I’d won the lottery twice knowing he was proud of me.
We had been planning to travel across Japan together. And so, to mark the first anniversary of his death, I was determined to go ahead and make those plans reality. I also lost my sister and a second uncle last year so this will also be tribute to their memory.”
Rough camping along the way, Danny will have to navigate the country’s challenging mountainous terrain as he travels from the southern tip of Japan to its northern reaches along with his oppo, Emanuel Gramada. They are hoping to raise £30,000 for our Charity which, he says, his uncle supported ‘to the very end’. BZ.
Join our team for the Great North Run

Our Fundraising team has arranged a busy events’ calendar this year, with lots going on over the summer months, all of which are detailed on the Events’ page of our website.
While the Great North Swim has sold out, we still have places to join our fantastic team for the AJ Bell Great North Run 2024 on 8th September, renowned for being the world’s largest half marathon. Some 60,000 runners take on the 13.1-mile route between Newcastle upon Tyne to South Shields each year.
We’d love you to join us and help raise much-needed funds for the Royal Marines Family – so don’t delay, sign up today!
Surprise beach raid

Forces.net has reported that ‘stunned holidaymakers looked on as members of 47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines conducted beach landing training in Cornwall.
The training exercise was based on a contemporary battlefield scenario and comes just a few weeks before the unit will land on Gold Beach in Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.’
Picture: PA