Edition 49

This week, we bring you another jam-packed edition – there’s an invite to a spectacular concert this Bank Holiday weekend, news of last week’s Big Give and what some of our teams have been up to, and updates on some huge personal achievements. 

Thank you so much for your continued support.

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Special weekend date 

Mountbatten Festival of Music 2023

This Saturday 27th May, there’s a treat in store for those who want to be transported virtually back in time to the iconic Royal Albert Hall to watch the spectacular Mountbatten Festival of Music 2023.  From the comfort of your own armchair, you can enjoy this year’s Massed Bands of His Majesty’s Royal Marines sell-out concert.

Performed in support of Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charities, there is something for everyone, with an entertaining and varied musical programme including the music of Stevie Wonder, Two Steps From Hell, The Music Man Project and – alongside the RMs own thrilling Corps of Drums – drummers from the Netherlands’ Koninklijke Marine Corps.

The show kicks off at 7:30pm, so we hope you will find the time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the spectacle! And don’t worry, if you can’t tune in on the night you can still watch it on YouTube long after this first broadcast. To donate to Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charities, visit HERE

You helped us smash it! 

With your help – we did it, and last week’s Big Give Kind2Mind campaign was a huge success. 

In expressing sincere thanks and deep appreciation to all those who made donations during the seven days of the campaign, our Director of Development, Tom Wilson, says: “On behalf of RMA-The Royal Marines Charity, we would like to thank all those who made such generous donations in support of our ‘Lifting the Lid’ Campaign during Mental Health Awareness Week, which was match-funded by The Big Give Trust through their Kind2Mind initiative.

Through your magnificent support, we raised  just over £20,000 (with match-funding) to support our beneficiaries in acute need, requiring specialist support treatment and mental health provision.”

Over the last 12 months, our ‘Lifting the Lid’ programme has – amongst other work – supported 323 beneficiaries. Of these, 112 were supported by therapy through Veterans Referral Plan, 162 received coaching support, and a further 49 beneficiaries were referred to our Addictions and Dependency specialist nurse. Additionally, presentations on recognising and preventing addictive behaviours were delivered to 20% of serving Royal Marines.

…’Until the next adventure’ 

We have nothing but enormous admiration and the utmost respect for former serving Royal Marines Commando Craig Hunter who, after exhausting efforts in battling serious health issues, ultimately made the wise decision to abort his much-anticipated summit attempt on Mount Everest last week.

In excerpts from his Facebook page, Craig wrote: “Certainly not the post I wanted or indeed expected to be having to compose but unfortunately I had to pull the pin on my expedition (yesterday)…over the past couple of weeks I had some stomach issues which did seem to settle but which left me significantly weakened. I did nonetheless attempt to crack on with two summit pushes, the second ending with me being dangerously weak just short of camp 1 having pushed up through the Khumbu Icefall….I concluded it would have been folly and madness to continue higher up where any ailments are amplified in the higher altitude.

Two of our team I had become friendly with at base camp went on to manage to summit; one died shortly afterwards near the summit and the other had to be rescued from high up on the mountain, to be later evacuated to hospital in Khatmandu – both left basecamp in a significantly better health state than I did…. The experience and adventure has been beyond words at times and though one can dress the undertaking up in many guises, the fact is I failed to make the summit. As hard a pill as that may be to swallow, it would be harder for one not to follow their dreams in the first place.

I bagged another Himalayan peak, made some incredible friends, trod on places only a few have dared to venture, and will be returning home safely to my family. Many will not or they sadly will return with life changing injuries. Until the next adventure…”

All at RMA – The Royal Marines Charity extend heartfelt gratitude to Craig for his exceptional support towards the Royal Marines Family and, despite everything, having already raised in excess of £2,000 for our Charity.  Safe home.

A Bootneck made for walking

We are enormously grateful to veteran Royal Marine, Pat Townsend from Lanivet in Cornwall who has finished walking the 630-mile South West Coastal Path. He started this challenge back in March, determined to complete it in weekly sections carrying a 15kg backpack, tent and sleeping bag for overnight camping.

Just outside Weymouth during the last 90-mile stretch which ended at Poole in Dorset at the weekend, he was thrilled when a local Coastguard helicopter dropped in to deliver some welcome water. It was a special moment, too,  for his son and grandson who had joined him on this last leg of the journey to share and celebrate his awesome achievement.

Pat said: “As I have now reached retirement age, I have some things in my bucket list, one of which was to walk the entire length of the SWCP, and hopefully raise some money along the way. As a former Royal Marine, I wanted to try to raise some much-needed cash to help former or serving Royal Marines and families who, for whatever reason, need assistance in their lives.”

He most certainly did that as, along with the extra cash donations he received along the way, on final count he will have raised around £2,500 (inc gift aid) for RMA – The Royal Marines Charity – really incredible!

Commandos for a day

A big shout out to Kevin Arnold, a great supporter of RMA – The Royal Marines Charity, who brought a team from London and New York to take part in an exclusive 43 Commando Experience at HMNB Clyde.  The eight-strong team had a really enjoyable time taking on some ‘out of your comfort zone’ activities that included abseiling, ladder climbing, survival, shooting and fast boating.  This great experience ended on a high note with a Regimental Dinner in the Comacchio Room of the Wardroom on the naval base.

Nick Holloway, RMA – The Royal Marines Charity’s Relationship Manager (Scotland) said: “A great time was had by all and thanks must go out to the team at 43 Cdo who made every effort to ensure it was a success.”

This privileged experience was one of the very few immersive activities with the Royal Marines made available to the Charity and was offered as a unique auction prize during last year’s Guildhall Dinner.

Adding on the pounds

A huge thank you to everyone who ran on behalf of our Charity in the Great Manchester Run at the weekend, including James Maskrey and the lads from RMR Manchester (pictured middle) who finished with times ranging from 2h 12m to 2h 39m;

… also to serving Royal Marines Dyllan Briggs (left)– who took part in the Plymouth half marathon carrying 30lbs of weight on his back to make it ‘a bit more of a challenge’ (!) and more than doubling his fundraising target;  and to Christopher May (right), who joined the RMs in 2019 and is currently based in Plymouth, for running the 100km (62.5 miles) Jurassic Coast Challenge.

Between them they raised around £1,800 for RMA – The Royal Marines Charity – what a hoofing weekend!

Teams go out and around

Teams go out and around

Members of our Fundraising and Employment & Education (E&E) teams (pictured left) were joined by some of our many amazing volunteers in the military village over the three days of the Devon County Show. They linked up with the tri-service stands while the RM Team ran a pull-up challenge that often had longer queues than the Army tank in situ! The County Show gave the Charity the perfect opportunity to network and spread the word about the work it does in support of the Corps Family.

Earlier in the week, the E&E team was delighted to welcome Rob Hughes, founder of StirSec to the Charity’s office at Lympstone (pictured above right). The team has established a good working relationship with the company that offers a service to those looking for jobs, security opportunities or private sector careers worldwide in the security industry and for which those transitioning into new jobs after leaving the Royal Marines are highly sought-after for the specialist skills they possess.

Elsewhere, a member of our Health & Wellbeing team headed to Worthy Down Camp in Hampshire to attend the Military Civilian Partnerships conference. The aim of the sessions was to enhance communication and collaboration within the military/third sector and statutory services, and so enhance the provision of care to the serving and veteran military communities.

It was a valuable day and gave another valuable opportunity to meet and share best practice with colleagues from a number of other charities including Naval Children’s Charity, Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity and the Naval Families Federation. 

Has the upcoming long weekend got you thinking about your next holiday?

Introducing the new RMA – The Royal Marines Charity debit card, powered by Currensea and Mastercard.

Save money on your next holiday and support RMA – The Royal Marines Charity. The card also offers interbank exchange rates for 16 major currency pairings and avoids at least 85% of your bank’s fees when used abroad, allowing you to also choose to donate some or all of these savings.

 New card, same account. Here’s a run-down on the card’s features:

·       No new bank account, link with existing current account

·       Remove bank fees while travelling abroad, save at least 85% on every transaction

·       Donate to RMA – The Royal Marines Charity by rounding-up your UK spend and donating your travel savings 

If you would prefer an unbranded card, please sign-up for a standard card at https://www.currensea.com/  and email [email protected] to link your card to the charity.