Supporting the well-being and welfare of active and retired seafarers.
Every year we award more than £2m in grants to support many maritime and welfare charities. But the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic brought exceptional hardship for many seafaring families.
We stepped up to the plate, awarding a total of £3,568,373 in grant funding in 2020 to support the wellbeing and welfare of active and retired seafarers during a difficult year, with 78% of grants awarded supporting both UK and visiting international seafarers, and 22% directly supporting international work.
In 2021, we awarded £2.9 million to 56 organisations and, working in collaboration with other leading maritime welfare charities and shipping industry players, launched Seafarers International Relief Fund (SIRF) to respond to the increasing and desperate needs of seafarers and their families resulting from the pandemic. SIRF has since raised US$1,192,170, all of which goes towards supporting seafarers and their families from the threat of COVID-19.
In 2021, your donations helped us to:
- Award 74 grants
- Support 56 organisations
- Award over £2.9m in total funding
- Raise an additional US$1,192,170 in SIRF funding to support seafarers affected by COVID-19 across India
A total of £6m in grant funding was injected into the maritime community to support the wellbeing and welfare of active and retired seafarers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impact of your support
Telephone friendship group brings together retired seafarers
Seafarers Group Calls is a project supported by The Seafarers’ Charity which aims to reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness of 120 older ex-seafarers, and their dependants, by facilitating their participation in 2,500 moderated community group telephone sessions.
More detailsSupporting Falkland’s veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
When Nigel needed help to cope with the mental effects of his combat experience, The Seafarers’ Charity-funded Veterans Outreach was the only place he could turn to.
More detailsArvind’s ship was detained at a port in Russia for almost five months.
Arvind’s story outlines the challenges of being a seafarer during the COVID-19 pandemic - uncertainty over pay, long working days, and months at sea isolated from their families.
More detailsEnabling digital service delivery during the COVID-19 crisis
£38,000 was awarded to The Mission to Seafarers to enable the provision of digital welfare support and services for seafarers and their families wishing to speak to a chaplain during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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