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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 we share news from the glitteringly successful Guildhall Dinner; that was followed by a weekend of reflection and Remembrance – which also inspired some remarkable fundraising; we have a ‘Mission Critical’ update; some powerful words from a young man with high aspirations – and tempt you to venture into our very own House of Cards!
Thank you for your continued support.
Guildhall Dinner boost
We are delighted to report that last week’s sold-out Guildhall Dinner in London raised over £850,000 with pledges of support still coming in.
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 what was a spectacular evening.
A 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.
Our 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.
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.”
In Remembrance
It was humbling to see so many of our Royal Marines family in London for the country’s annual Remembrance Day Parade on Sunday. The Royal Marines Association was out in full force to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph and commemorate those who paid the ultimate price in protecting our freedoms.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.
Band Box perfect
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.”
Huge thanks to former Royal Marine Rich Mayson – and RM PTI Sgt Gary Spacey – for leading the many hundreds of supporters and players from Barnes Rugby Football Club in London who turned out on Remembrance Day (Saturday 11th November) to take part in Barnes Rugby ‘Band Box’, a military-themed session of morning exercise that raised over £1,000 for our Charity. Hoofing effort.
In all, some 600 people took part and at 1100 everyone present arranged into an 11-11 formation on the rugby pitch for the two minutes’ silence.
The family event was followed by a sit-down lunch in the clubhouse where Rich explained the life-long support the Charity offers to the Corps family by sharing some of our many beneficiary stories.
It was a tough call when Mack, a former Royal Marine, phoned our Health & Welfare team asking if there was any support RMA – The Royal Marines Charity could offer his adult son following the re-occurrence of his cancer and terminal diagnosis.
Because Mack’s son had never served in the military nor had any job with any associated charity attached with it, all it seemed possible to do was suggest a referral to a cancer care charity.
But it turned out, there was more to the situation than had first been apparent….read what happened next via the button below.
Forging futures
RMA – The Royal Marines Charity’s Chief Executive, Ben Curry (pictured top right with Zoe Darnbrough, Head of Employment & Education (E&E)) joined our E&E team on a visit to Bicton College’s Rural Experience Week, run by Highground and funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust.
With a focus on also improving mental health and wellbeing, it followed the success of last year’s Rural Experience Week for Royal Marines Young Recruits who, for a variety of reasons, had not made it through training.
Three of last year’s cohorts, all now employed within the sector, returned to talk about how they had been helped by the course, and presentations to participants highlighted some of the many outdoor employment opportunities within the land-based sector.
The overall feedback, despite the atrocious weather, was – ‘just brilliant’!
Our ‘Mission Critical’ campaign – launched in September to raise £1.5M before 21st December 2023 – has just over five weeks left to go. To date, with your help, we have now inched past the £1-million mark.
There are many ways you can take part to help us reach our goal – and do keep an eye on our social media pages for an imminent announcement on how to join our pre-Christmas 28-day fitness circuit!
Our supporters have certainly embraced our end-of-year campaign. Here are two more stories:
Sgt Isimeli Turagabeci RM who is currently based at 40 CDO RM Taunton, ran a 30-miler along the North Devon coast with the support of fellow Bootnecks, his eldest son and local U13s rugby team.
In explaining his support, he says: “RMA – The Royal Marines Charity gives essential assistance to serving and ex serving personnel. With their help, we were able to give one of our Fijian colleagues the send-off he deserved enabling friends and family to come together with huge support towards his funeral.”
If you’d like to help Isimeli reach his £1,000 Mission Critical fundraising target, please click here.
We can all be further inspired by the remarkable Al Siddons. Despite battling a significant permanent and complex injury he decided to nevertheless tackle our Campaign’s Virtual 3 Peaks challenge. He was particularly pleased to be able to participate, saying: “It is the first opportunity I’ve seen to participate in an event – most are simply not designed with accessibility in mind – so thanks to the team for thinking it up.”
Although not in the remit, he was excited to have completed the same vertical ascent as is the reality – “that’s 2,963 metres – in ten separate bursts of activity. Quite hard won for me but it’s a tick!”
Al had already raised a magnificent £680 when he had to stop. “My physical ability is not up to par at the moment so I am listening to my body and taking a break, at least for now.”
We salute his absolute grit and determination and share our enormous thanks to him for having achieved so much in such a short space of time. You can read more about Al and his Mission Critical fundraising here.
The peak of fitness
And former Royal Marine, Atunaisa Kovula, now working at RM Bickleigh 42 CDO, set out to climb the Three National Peaks in under 24 hours – for real. Having ticked off Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and Scafell, the adverse weather conditions unfortunately forced him to cancel attempting Ben Nevis and completing the trio.
Congratulations on having successfully completed two out of these three arduous climbs – and our sincerest thanks for having raised £450.
4x4x48 – summing up success
“There wasn’t a single run that went by without me thinking of my ‘why’. My ‘why’ being that there are so many veterans that struggle every single day. So, for me to put myself through this 48-hours of struggle is nothing in comparison. So, I just hope the money I’ve raised can help make some people’s lives easier as a massive thank you for their service.”
Wow – what amazingly powerful sentiment from 20-year-old Jaden Kirby who has raised almost £800 for RMA – The Royal Marines Charity. “I am an aspiring Royal Marine. I am training hard and will hopefully be joining the Royal Marines basic training next year.”
His challenge of choice? The ‘4x4x48’ – running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours over Remembrance weekend.
“I have a couple of friends I’ve met through networking at the gym who are ex royal marines. So, knowing some guys who have served is definitely good for my training and also a great reason to do this for the Charity.
And he did it, having battled fatigue and mind fog from lack of sleep, and the icy cold of late night and pre-dawn runs.
Absolutely awesome – and we look forward to welcoming Jaden into the Corps family.
Shopping Corner
Show your true colours this Christmas by sending these high quality 5×7 greetings cards to friends and family. There is Debbi Morris’s fun and colourful selection of Snowman Spean Bridge, Green Lid Santa, RM Nutcrackers and Snowman designs: or the elegant Indigo Zulu Ink collection featuring Izy’s Spean Bridge, Noel, Corps Crest and Christmas Tree artwork – all come with eye-catching red envelopes.
The Royal Marines Shop is wholly owned by RMA – The Royal Marines Charity and all profits come back to the Charity to help support the Corps Family.