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Once a Marine, Always a Marine - The Through Life Pathway

RMCTF’s support of retired Royal Marines in grants is administered through our sister Corps organisation the Royal Marines Association, which has membership branches across the country to encourage mutual support as well as fundraising. Grants are made to a whole range of veterans who have served in conflicts ranging from the Second World War to the recent operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Royal Marines is a  Corps Family, and with RMCTF’s help it can take care of its own through hard times, ill-health, old age and late-onset post-traumatic stress arising from the mental scarring of war.

Simon Julian is a retired Royal Marine living in Penang who contracted a life-threatening infection which required urgent surgery to his leg and care which was not available to him in Malaysia. RMCTF funded his medevac to the UK where he is now receiving life saving care and surgery under the NHS. He is likely to be bed-bound for the forseeable future and probably for the rest of his life, but his family are enormously grateful  that the dementia caused by the infection is now gone, and that his life is no longer threatened.

Trauma Risk Management is a groundbreaking Royal Marines programme for dealing with post-traumatic stress which has been used effectively by the Corps in Afghanistan and has been adopted by the wider Armed Forces. RMCTF has secured funding for a two year Trauma Risk Management for Veterans programme.  Former Marines like from the wars of the last 70 years will receive the help that did not exist before the current Afghan campaign in earlier conflicts who never received the help he did.  RMCTF will pay for Royal Marines Association volunteers to be trained in order to offer this service across the country through RMA’s  local branch national footprint.

The Bereaved -  We made 8 grants last year to families who lost loved ones. On top of a grant from the Naval Service Dependants’ Fund which goes to all Naval Service personnel, RMCTF pays a grant of £5000 to the next of kin of Marines who die in service within 48 hours of death, in order to meet immediate expenses.