At the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, Royal Marines announce Norway 75 and plans to raise at least £100,000 to support good mental health within the Royal Marines Family. A diverse team of serving Royal Marines will travel 2,000 miles along the length of the Norway by sea (kayak) and land (bike) in June and July, setting off on 5th June.
The self-sufficient team operating out of a mobile base camp will be cycling up to 200km a day and sea kayaking up to 40km a day. As they go they will be revisiting and retelling heroic stories of WW2 Commando operations that took place in Norway. This will be done through first-hand account interviews with Norwegian veterans, retracing routes and linking up with each of Norway’s District’s Home Guard stations.
Norway 75 will culminate in a 75th anniversary of the ‘Telemark’ raids – the successful sabotage of the Nazi nuclear heavy water plant. Capt. Tim Pitcher, who is leading this project said, ‘We aim to raise awareness for the Royal Marines Charity and their efforts to support good mental health in the Royal Marines Family. In doing so, we hope to raise at least £100,000 to go towards a key RM Charity developments in 2018.’
Capt. Pitcher is available to visit radio and TV stations to carry out interviews. In addition, the media are invited to carry out any interviews prior to the launch of Norway 75. This will be available between 16:00–17:00 on 16 May at 1 Vine Street, London.