b"STRENGTHENING OUR PARTNERSHIPS IMPACT REPORT 2021The RNRMC has maintained close ties with the Royal Navala small box which connects to a TV and comes with a Association (RNA) since the RNRMCs formation, howeverwebcam and a very simple remote control. This enables 2021 saw this bond strengthened further.people to connect with family, friends and community using Royal Naval Association General Secretary Bill Oliphant spinning dits with RNRMC Chief Executive Responding in part to the economic challenges broughtsimple digital technology. Adrian Bell at the opening of the new RNRMC Charities Hub within HMS DRAKE. This facility is an about by the COVID-19 pandemic while also streamliningWW2 veteran, Ernie Davies has been using Sparko for the membership process, the RNA with the support ofseveral months. Ernie has found the service straightforward important shopfront for both organisations in raising awareness of the support they provide to the the RNRMC, decided to take the historic step of removingand uses it to keep in touch with his old naval friends: serving population and their families. membership fees in the hope of making the benefits ofIts great to have this facility and to be able to be in regular camaraderie, connection and friendship enjoyed by RNAtouch with shipmates and oppos who I would otherwise members accessible to even more people.It is hoped thatstruggle to see.by doing so, many hidden, lost or lonely veterans may be persuaded to re-connect with their former shipmates. In addition to working with the RNA, throughout 2021 the In addition to providing funding which enabled the RNA toRoyal Navy and Royal Marines Charity has been working waive its membership fees, the RNRMC worked with thewith Trustees, branches and members of the Submariners RNA to promote the membership offer. The effect has beenAssociation, We Remember Submariners and the Friendssignificant, with 2,931 new members joining the Associationof the Royal Navy Submarine Museum to simplify andlast year, taking the total membership up to 12,797. Initialclarify messages to the entire submariner communityprojections were to reach 12,500 members by the end ofpast and present. 2022, so this target was reached a year early. Bill Oliphant, the RNA General Secretary/CEO said:With the support of the RNRMC, the RNA moved to donation-based income in 2021. Already the largest community of Royal Naval veterans, we are now reaching and communicating with even more veterans, serving shipmates and families, through increased membership,Membership fees for the three different affiliate associations maintained through a new database. With the continuinghave been waived to create a single front-facing free support of the RNRMC, we can continue to providemembership fundThe Submarine Familywhich remains companionship, access to information, and a communitylinked to the three affiliates through a dedicated website, STRENGTHENING OUR PARTNERSHIPSof like-minded supportive individuals, without the needfunded by the RNRMC. This model of how communities for Shipmates to pay a membership fee to do so. We havecan and are helping themselves may influence how other already stopped the decline in membership and indeed haveRoyal Navy specialisations and the RNRMC will evolve in IN THE ROYAL NAVY COMMUNITY been able to reverse the trend. developing closer ways of working in the future.In 2021 the RNRMC and RNA partnership also saw the launch of our Sparko TV pilot project, a free service for For more information on The Submarine Family, including HaRNRMC worktunity to sit in fr Royal Navy veterans bringing online connectivity and Theving the oppor s closely with paont of the firrtners acrose and talk openly about my s the spectrum of military and civilian curr nisatioesses and physical difficulties mak how to join, please visit www.submarinefamily.ukorgaent str ns to ensure that the right support es me awarreaches saie that my situation is lors, marines and their families, as wellcommunity into their living rooms. The Sparko TV kit is not unique and ther r, the charity's relationships with those organisations who are intrinsically as veterans. Howevee is light at the end of the tunnel.linked to the Royal Navy are particularly important. Please scan here with your Smart Phone to hear theScan here with your Smart Phone to hear from Company of Makers Lockdown podcast featuringRoyal Navy veterans Les and John how Sparko TV Bill Oliphant, General Secretary of the Royal Navalsets have kept shipmates talking over lockdown: 52 Association. 53"