Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

The challenge!

On Saturday March 22nd 2025 I will be attempting to complete 10,000 chest to floor burpees in 24 hours. I will be doing this to raise funds for the Royal Marines Charity, which exists to help the entire Royal Marines family. Offering a range of services to both serving, veterans and their families.

Why?

After serving in the Royal Marines and deploying on 3 operational tours almost back to back in both Iraq and Afghanistan I decided that I needed to leave the Corps to focus on my family and new-born son. Like many others that have served, It wasn't long before I became a little lost and was struggling to find my place within society. I guess for the most part, this was more about missing being surrounded by a band of brothers that I had become accustom to, and I guess I felt a lose of sense of belonging too!

The Corps is a very unique branch where you have a very special bond with the each other, encompassed with the Corps values of excellence, integrity, self-discipline, and humility. Trying to reintegrate into society after serving alongside a group of individuals that all hold the same values and qualities, can be extremely difficult.

To fill the void in which I felt I needed to personally address, I went to work out in the Middle East in the Private Security sector. Selfishly, putting my wife and now 2 children aside, I persued this career for 8 years. As time went on work was increasingly becoming more dangerous week by week, and began finding myself spending months away from home, time after time. After long discussions with my wife, we decided enough was enough and it was time for me to return home and take up my responsibilities as both a husband and a father.

Life appeared good at this stage, as we'd managed to financially stabilise ourselves, and therefore I decided to reeducate myself and go to University and study a full 3 year BSc degree in Sports Therapy. After graduating back in 2020 and setting up my own private clinic to help rehabilitate people within the community, I was offered a job working at the University of Worcester where I worked as a Sports Therapy Technician. Whilst I enjoyed the job, It wasn't long before, yet again I got itchy feet and felt that I wanted to achieve more and subsequently began considering life as a Paramedic. After a lengthy application process I soon found myself on an apprenticeship pathway into becoming a Paramedic. Upon completion of the course I was soon working as part of a crew as a Technician with the West Midlands Ambulance Service.

The past finally caught up with me!

At the start, I really enjoyed being on the road and for the most part, making a difference. However, It soon became clear that this was the final icing on the cake for me. After one job too many I realised that things were not right. My mood had changed and before long I found myself unable to socialise or even leave the house. It was at this point that I realised that for many years I had not been addressing my past and simply just parking things and just cracking on.

After support from my wife and speaking with my GP I decided to reach out to the Royal Marines Charity. Within a space of a couple of days I had been contacted by them and put in touch with a Therapist.

Since then, I have been receiving weekly therapy sessions that have involved a combination of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR).

I cannot thank the charity enough for what they have done for me, and wish to put back into the charity what they have given me so that other Royal Marines Veterans and their families can receive the same.

This is my story and thank you for your support.

Much love

Jamie

Special thanks to my family, friends and therapist for your support throughout.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.