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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 has been as busy as ever – our teams have been out and around; we give thanks for a very generous donation and we bring you the latest news from the South Pole!
Thank you for your continued support.
Trading places

Tom Wilson, Director of Development, RMA-The Royal Marines Charity (pictured right), attended the ICAP Charity Day in The City of London where he met up with TP ICAP CEO, Nico Breteau (pictured standing outside) and other members of the Executive Team, as well as going onto the trading floor and renewing old friendships.
A Corps of Drums from HMS Collingwood went along, too, to welcome the arrival of The Lord Mayor of London to the event which raises several million pounds each year for a variety of charities.
ICAP is one of the world’s biggest brokers in global financial markets, and Tom said: “I would like to thank Nico and TP ICAP for their generous donation of £10,000 to RMA-The Royal Marines Charity.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to members of the RM Band Service, HMS Collingwood, who performed brilliantly. They played a key role in the event and in our relationship with TP ICAP.
And it was great to be back on a trading floor, where I spent the first 25 years of my career.”
An early Christmas break

Our winter deployment trip was in full swing last week in Scotland and, all in all, an amazing time was had by all!
The annual respite break for wounded and injured Royal Marines and their families is always a much-anticipated event, giving them a chance to have the ‘down-time’ to enjoy one another’s company and make new friendships.
Supported by the RMA team, it was – as always – a busy week that included a Christmas movie night and an early appearance of Santa, along with visits to a number of local attractions including the Glenfinnan viaduct and monument – where it was -8!; the Highland Wildlife Park; the Achnacarry Estate; and a Loch Ness cruise that was followed by a service of remembrance at the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge to pay respects to the 24 Royal Marine cadets who were killed in the Gillingham Chatham Bus Tragedy 72 years’ ago on 4th December 1951.
Working breakfast

Jim Morris (2nd right), our Transition Support Officer (South & Wales) and Employment & Education Grants Officer, Laurie Hawkshaw (centre), recently went along to a breakfast meeting with Entrain Space near Salisbury.
The Charity is working increasingly closely with Entrain as one of our valued partner organisations which provides 44 self-contained flats for veterans and service leavers, along with support and enterprise-based training programmes to enable their transition into independent civilian life.
Mission Spiritus Antarctica update

As those of us in the Northern Hemisphere cosy up on another winter’s evening, it’s a little chillier for former Royal Marines and serial adventurers Alan Chambers and Dave Thomas who have completed Week Three of the Mission Spiritus Antarctica scientific expedition to the South Pole. We are extremely grateful they are also fundraising for RMA – The Royal Marines Charity.
Before sharing their latest update, we know you’ll want to join us in sending belated greetings to Dave. who celebrated his 68th birthday on Sunday – meaning he will be even more qualified to become the oldest person to ski unassisted to the geographic South Pole – and set a new Guinness World Record!
The intrepid duo have so far travelled a hard-earned 320km, of the total 1,150km distance needed to reach their ultimate destination. The slopes are somewhat easier and they have been hitting the daily target of travelling 20+ km a day, the distance necessary if they are to reach the Pole within their 55-day time-frame.
Latest report: “Weather today is windy, gusting up to 23knots and -13 degrees that feels like -23 with the wind chill but not too cold so far.
Some amazing days of brilliant and incredibly bright sunshine, surrounded by 360 degrees of reflecting UV off the snow that can be brutal on the vision even with our expensive goggles.
The last two days have been a cloudy, snowless whiteout when it’s been difficult to locate the horizon or any features to aid navigation; reliance and concentration on compass is essential.
Our daily routine – up at 5am, breakfast, melt around 10Kg of snow for flasks for hydration, set off around 7:30am, travel until 17:30 with breaks to feed/hydrate, another 10Kg of snow to melt for food and overnight, sleep as best we can in 24hrs of daylight – get up repeat!”
Shopping Corner

This attractive metal bottle stopper features an impressive 35mm-tall Royal Marines Corps Crest in 3D and comes with four rubber rings to fit different sized bottles, making it the perfect addition to any table, particularly on special occasions!
Available exclusively from the Royal Marines Shop that is wholly owned by RMA – The Royal Marines Charity, all profits come back to the Charity to help support the Corps Family.