As part of our ongoing drive to ensure effective oversight of the Charity so that the best support can be given to the Corps Family, three new Trustees have been recruited to the Board:
Ryan Nast is a Royal Marine who served as a signaller in the Corps from 2000-2012. An Associate Partner for Customer Transformation with IBM, he was formerly with PWC as a Senior Manager in Technology Consulting. He sits on the Board of the Bootnecks In2 Business Community Interest Company which brings together those now working in the civilian world and offers links into employment for those coming to the end of their military service. As a Trustee, Ryan will use his extensive experience to advise on Information Systems and information Technology, and chair the Charity’s Employment & Education sub-committee, overseeing our work with involuntarily discharged recruits and Marines.
Richard Swarbrick is a former Royal Navy officer who is now Head of Partnerships and Engagement for NHS England with primary responsibility for NHS England’s liaison with the military community. A longstanding member of the Charity’s Health & Wellbeing sub-committee, he now becomes a Trustee to offer advice to the Board as a representative of a major statutory partner.
Ian Cohen has been a passionate supporter of the Charity since 2015 when he took part in a 30-miler yomp around Achnacarry. Formerly at HSBC working in Hong Kong, he delivered a massively successful fundraising dinner there in 2016 and has been a longstanding member of our Fundraising sub-committee. Now Group Chief Operating Officer of the Charities Aid Foundation, he will, as a Trustee, offer advice to the Board from the perspective of a global charitable organisation which distributes £Billions each year to charities. Ian is also a reservist Army officer.
As we welcome these new Trustees, we also give our huge thanks to Jamie Zuppinger BEM whose tenure has expired after eight years of faithful and energetic service. He has been a Trustee since 2014, firstly to the C Group; then The Royal Marines Charity following merger with the RM Charitable Trust Fund in 2016, and finally with RMA – The Royal Marines Charity since merger with the Royal Marines Association in 2019. Jamie also became Board representative on the Executive of the Royal Marines Sports Association, devoting significant time and effort beyond his responsibilities, of note attending the US Virginia Gauntlet sports tour in 2019, encouraging the 260 attendees and fostering enduring personal relationships.
He chaired the Fundraising Committee from 2017-20 and formed and chaired the Employment sub-committee from 2020-21, drawing in experts to enhance the quality of the service offered to discharged Royal Marines. Jamie’s service to the charities and passion for the cause was so significant that he was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours in 2021. We wish him every success in his future ventures.