Royal Navy and Royal Marines campaign
Lukes Story
We spoke to one Royal Marine who has recently returned from serving in Afghanistan and asked him about his experiences since returning home.
Luke joined the Royal Marines aged 23, his motivation was to work in all areas of the Royal Marines including the sea, land and sky and ultimately work as part of a team, lead operations and help ensure men returned safely.
He returned earlier this year;
"When I returned from Afghanistan earlier this year I found it incredibly hard adapting back into normal life, and I have been signed off with post-traumatic stress disorder. The help I got from naval charities has helped me get back on my feet and I don't know what I would have done without it."
Since returning Luke says he has relied on support from several independent Royal Navy and Royal Marines charities that receive funds from Seafarers UK.
On the reaction he has received from the public he says:
“Many people have a jaded view of the services as they don't support the government and the conflicts the government have employed us in, however it is the role of the military to support, defend and protect the public in any crisis so I would ask the public to take more of an active role supporting our troops and the charities that support them”
Useful statistics and information
There are currently 1,400 Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel in Afghanistan; this figure will rise to 4,000 in the autumn
At the same time, their colleagues maintain routine duties worldwide, from disaster relief and patrols against drug and people trafficking to support of United Nations peacekeeping missions
Closer to home, the security of the global supply chain, and the free passage of merchant sailors and fishermen, is protected 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by the men and women of the Royal Navy
The total number of UK casualties in Afghanistan up to and including the 15/4/08 is 93. The breakdown is as follows:
Role of Royal Navy:
- Conflicts and peacekeeping – both national and UN operations (Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Iraq)
- Humanitarian aid (Caribbean hurricanes, Mozambique floods)
- Anti-drugs patrols (especially the Caribbean)
- Search and rescue (almost every day)
- Patrolling UK fishing grounds and oilfields
- Oceanographic surveys and protecting the maritime environment
- Helping the UK community (Foot and Mouth crisis, firefighters' strike)
- Providing the nation's nuclear deterrent (constantly)
In order to achieve these aims, the Navy needs a broad range of capabilities, which must be achieved within a tight defence budget. The Navy employs 37,000 people (including 6,000 Royal Marine commandos) who are adaptable, resilient and well trained.
Background and context to campaign
Royal Naval charities give over £3million every year to help thousands of serving and former Naval Service people and their families. The cost to RN charities of giving this assistance is constantly increasing. At the same time it is becoming more and more difficult to raise funds to meet the need.
The trend toward shorter periods of engagement in the Navy means that there will continue to be large numbers of former seafarers for many years to come. Many of these will have had shorter careers at sea than in the past, with implications for eligibility for charity support. This also means that Naval personnel tend to move around more than before, which greatly impacts on the quality of family life and adds stress to family relationships, and adds to the sense of isolation from mainstream society.
The Naval Service is the largest seafaring population group.
Evidence from Seafarers UK
Seafarers UK receives requests from seafaring charities, including Naval charities, for around £5 million each year – and this amount is increasing year on year. Yet we only has the funds to distribute around £3 million in routine grants
This is an increase of 30% compared to the past few years
The Naval charities that Seafarers UK supports helps beneficiaries with wide ranging issues, including: mental health, disability, children’s welfare, relationship breakdown, debt, poverty, homelessness, respite care
The four main groups of seafarers that we focus on are: older and ex-seafarers; maritime youth groups; seafarers of working age; seafarers’ dependants and families
In 2007 we made a grant of £245,964 to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children’s Fund for the first time – this money was urgently needed to support an increasing number of families with young fathers returning from active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with missing limbs and other traumas
Around 100 charities directly support the seafaring community in the UK. Together they spend around £ 25 million each year in direct support for at least 50,000 people who are current or former seafarers, their dependants or families. This support includes:
- regular and one-off grants for individual needs, including health care, social care and education
- housing, accommodation and care services
- information and advice about welfare needs
- pastoral and spiritual care
Estimates drawn from the research suggest that up to 50% of the UK seafaring community – around 725,000 people – will have needs that maritime charities will be able to meet or alleviate
The main issues that serving and ex- Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel face include:
- Separation and isolation from home and family while working at sea
- from shipmates, working roles and routines while ashore, out of work or in retirement
- from other occupations and communities
- from general organisations and services
- increasingly, as crew sizes and facilities change and working hours increase, from colleagues while working at sea
Continuous cycles of dislocation and re-adjustment
- the disruption of home life of personnel, their dependants and families
- anxiety and stress of having to juggle life at sea and ashore
- often leads to marriage break-ups and/or relationship stresses
Physical and emotional hazards
- in their working and living environments when at sea
- in managing day-to-day life ashore without the structures of life onboard ship, during retirement, unemployment or other employment