The Team
Meet the team
Aldo Diana, Ken Maynard, Graham Witham and Jason Howard-Ady all served together in the Royal Marines 25 years ago and as such have kept in touch throughout, thus nurturing a life, long friendship. This friendship will provide mental and physical strength to us all on our adventure.
The 5th member of our team is without doubt the most intelligent, important and most attractive (yes Aldo so get over it!) piece of the jigsaw so huge thank you to Dawn Cameron who on our trip will be uploading the photos and videos and generally tracking our progress to relay back to the web.
Special mention must also be made to the following people because we have relied on in the past and will be seeking further help in the future from
Thank you to..
Richard Gillies (Project Director at M & S)
Kathryn Tibble-Taylor (Project Manager)
And most importantly of course to..
Sir Stuart Rose and Marc Bolland
Thank you everyone.
Aldo
With an Italian father and Welsh mother my life has always been an interesting mix. As a teenager, living in Swansea I wanted to follow my creative instincts and follow a career in Graphic Design but I was unable to get an educational grant. Always having a mad sense of adventure, I decided to join HM Royal Marines. Sadly I was turned down as it was deemed too close to my dear mother’s sudden death and I was told to reapply at a later date. So at the young age of 17 years I headed to the bright lights of London and worked as an Italian waiter by night and at a timber yard by day, but my dream (apart from owning a Ferrari) was still to join HM Royal Marines and I did so in 1983.
Ken and I were in the first British winning Commando team of the Northern European Command Infantry Competition (NECIC) and I’m never happier than having a physical and mental challenge. I’ve been a London Fire-fighter for the past 20 years I’ve won London’s fittest fire-fighter competition several times and have represented LFB on an international scale winning the World Championships in 2008 and if that wasn’t enough have completed the London Marathon twice, run 155 miles in the Sahara desert in 6 days and attempted to row the Atlantic in my own, personally built boat, (called Rita after my late mother) with fellow ex-Commando Ken, without sponsorship or support, in 2008/09.
Unfortunately we lost solar power and were aborting the journey, heading for Cape Verde, when our path was crossed with a 200,000 tonne (un-laden weight) cargo ship, but it was fully laden at the time with spuds (so probably 400,000 tonnes)! Poor Rita didn’t stand a chance, so it’s unfinished business for Ken and I and I cannot wait. Bring it on……..there’s no such thing as defeat!
You can contact me via email aldo@prostatemarksmen.com
Ken
Graham
I was born in Braeholm, Scotland in 1967 and after my education I joined the Royal Marines in 1984 whereby I did tours of Norway and Northern Ireland and represented my unit at Rugby which I enjoyed immensely. I also lay claim to being the undefeated heavyweight boxing champion of my unit and champion tea drinker!
I served on the Close Protection team for my last 2 years of my military service. For the last 20 years i have been the chauffeur to the CEO and Chairman of M & S. I love the job because it affords me travel and plenty of cups of tea. I have been married to my wife Nicola for over 20 years and have two great kids in Paul and Laura (not really kids anymore). I joined the project after hearing about a free trip to Antigua, should have checked the small print i think!
I have full confidence in the other guys as holders of the coveted Green Beret and i know that they have the mental atitude that is required or is that atitude that is mental, not sure?
Still i look forward to warm seas, good food, nice relaxing travel with lots of cups of tea...........should i read the small print again?
You can contact me via email graham@prostatemarksmen.com
Jason
I was born in Hammersmith in 1964 and remember my childhood with great fondness having been fortunate enough to have had a loving and entertaining family. After a modest educational return, ‘someone’ talked me into joining the Royal Marines in 1981 for a life of adventure and it didn't disappoint!
This ‘someone’ regaled me with stories of rock climbing in the bright Aegean sunshine, canoeing in vast warm lakes and skiing Norway’s powdery finest only to be confronted with nothing of the sort. Sleeping under canvas in - 20c in the Arctic and hacking away through the leech infested jungles of Borneo, however I lasted a further 12 years and looked back with nothing but absolute joy.
It is true that several career turns came my way over the years including restaurateur, private detective, Diplomatic driver, film extra and bodyguard only to finish as a director of a telecommunications company.
The older I get the more I want to embrace doing “silly” things but if there is a way of raising money and having a laugh along the way then count me in.
The Atlantic Ocean row will be hard and mentally taxing of that there is no doubt but anyone who ever wore a Green Beret will surely know about “it’s only pain 500 metres to go”
You can contact me via email jason@prostatemarksmen.com
