On Tuesday 20 October, Trustees from the Royal Marines Association (RMA) officially launched their £40,000 sponsorship of a room in Fisher House. The House is QEHB Charity’s ‘home away from home’ for families of military patients to stay at whilst their loved ones receive treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, which is also home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.

The RMA will donate £10,000 per year for four years to Fisher House and have decided to name the room they are sponsoring ‘Gibraltar’. To celebrate their substantial donation, representatives from the RMA travelled to Fisher House on the site of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Ron Bell JP, Chairman of Trustees, was joined by fellow Trustee Paul Deacon and Major Cameron March MBE, Principal Veteran Support Officer at the RMA. They were led on a tour of Fisher House by Justine Davy, QEHB Charity’s Head of Fundraising, before officially announcing the Gibraltar room ‘open’.

Ron Bell said: “It is an enormous privilege and honour for the RMA to continue its close association with the unique institution of Fisher House and the fantastic work it does for our Service personnel in general, and Royal Marines in particular, by providing superb facilities that allow their families to support them through what are inevitably difficult and stressful times. We are delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor a family suite at Fisher House, and hope its use will encourage in those who visit it the same inspiration and sense of fellowship that the name Gibraltar does throughout the Royal Marines.”

For the Royal Marines, the word ‘Gibraltar‘ commemorates the heroism of 2,000 British and Dutch Marines who defended the newly captured Rock of Gibraltar against a siege by French and Spanish forces from October 1704 until 9 March 1705. In 1827, King George IV directed that, due to the difficulty selecting battle honours amidst so many glorious deeds by the Royal Marines, the Corps should have ‘the Great Globe itself’ as its emblem to be surrounded by the laurel wreath; retaining ‘Gibraltar’ as the first great battle honour to represent all previous and subsequent honours. Today, the links between the Royal Marines and Gibraltar remain as strong as ever and the Rock’s name proudly encapsulates the spirit of Royal Marines’ endeavours wherever in the world they may be.

Justine Davy, Head of Fundraising at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity, said: “The RMA’s enduring support of Fisher House means so much, both to the charity and to the House’s occupants, many of whom have been Royal Marines themselves. Generous donations like this one enable us to keep on providing that safe haven for families going through an incredibly stressful ordeal, away from the clinical environment but still within walking distance of the hospital where their loved ones are receiving treatment.”

Of the more than 1,500 military patients that have stayed with their families at Fisher House since it opened in April 2013, a significant proportion have been Royal Marines. The RMA has been a valuable supporter of Fisher House in the past, donating a staggering £100,000 in 2013 which made a new multi-use games area, located next to the house, possible.

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