One Is Too Many was created to address the difficulties experienced by vulnerable veterans in dealing with suicidal thoughts and feelings, but who are not successfully accessing the support that they need. Our two-year Project ‘Lifting the Lid’ builds upon the success of our recent campaign where we encouraged our Royal Marine community to talk about mental health and ask for help.

Over the next two years, this project will embed community-based support pathways, enhance professional skills, and reduce stigma amongst the Corps family. Through developing best ‘prevent and recovery’ practice tailored to the unique experience of Royal Marines, it will encourage those at risk to engage with services. This project aims to change how support is offered to save lives within the Royal Marines community and will provide direct support to veterans who are at significant risk of suicide and are not accessing support.

Our aims are:
• To promote positive mental health and advocate help-seeking at an early juncture
• Detect those most at risk through holistic assessment detecting those most at risk and enabling them to seek support.
• Prevent those that might be at risk of suicide by helping them with employment advice, financial and benevolence support
• Provide assistance with mental health management or substance misuse challenges

We will achieve this through training and developing clear pathways into recognised and approved support. So, whether an individual is in contact or not with professionals or members of the Corps family, those in first contact will be skilled in recognising signs of suicidal ideation and will feel equipped to manage sensitive and difficult conversations.

We will:
• Deliver targeted communications to promote help seeking behaviours
• Support our volunteers to be better equipped in managing those difficult conversations and importantly will know where to refer those in crisis for support
• Increase peer level training and heightened awareness to reduce suicide rates and self-harm amongst our community
• Host two symposia for practitioners in 2021 and 2022 and publish our finding to support professional practice.

We will be working with Samaritans, Zero Suicide Alliance, MHFA England and the NHS Veterans Service to deliver this work. We particularly wish to further develop our relationships across the military charity sector to share learning in a multidisciplinary way that in turn will help to prevent veterans falling into crisis and developing a sense of hopelessness that could lead to suicidal ideation.

Our Director of Health and Wellbeing Danny Egan stated:

“This grant will enable us to continue to offer direct support to our Corps Family, continuing to breakdown the stigmas associated with mental illness, promoting positive mental health to prevent illness and supporting those in crisis to seek help when needed.”

Jonathan Ball, Chief Executive, RMA – The Royal Marines Charity:

“This incredible grant from AFCFT is the fourth major donation from the Trust in the last year and demonstrates not only AFCFT’s confidence in the quality of support already provided by RMA-The Royal Marines Charity, but also the strength of our growing partnership with the Trust and the other charities who have benefitted from the One is Too Many funding.”

It is a strong person, not a weak person who is able to understand when to seek help from others; asking for support is a strength that should be applauded not stigmatised. Click here to visit our Lifting The Lid landing page.