Seafarers Awareness Week (SAW) will be 23-30 June in 2018, the co-ordinating charity Seafarers UK has confirmed. It will embrace the IMO’s ‘Day of the Seafarer’ on 25 June.
The main promotional theme for SAW will be ‘Maritime Industry Jobs’ – at sea and ashore – with an emphasis on engineering, to coincide with the Government’s ‘Year of Engineering’ campaign
Read moreThe UK maritime industry’s most rewarding team-building event is on 7-8 July 2018, when up to 30 teams of trekkers will take on Seafarers UK’s 24 Peaks Challenge. Over 24 hours, 24 peaks over 2,400 feet in the Lake District are ascended by teams of four to six people. Awards are presented to the top fundraising team and the company that recruits the most teams.
Each team pledges to raise £4,000 for Seafarers UK, the charity that helps people in the maritime community by providing vital funding to support seafarers in need and their families.
Read moreMairéad Ní Cheóinín has been appointed to Seafarers UK as the charity’s new Corporate Fundraising Manager where her focus will be on engaging with the commercial maritime sector.
Mairéad brings a wealth of business development, marketing experience and industry knowledge to the position from her previous roles, working with Steamship Mutual P&I, TradeWinds, Informa PLC in London and the Irish Maritime Development Office in Dublin.
Mairéad joins the grant-giving, campaigning and fundraising charity at an exciting time, as it celebrates its Centenary and is looking ahead to the next phase of its future. Her role will be to raise awareness of Seafarers UK’s wider impact within the maritime charity sector.
Read moreInmarsat, 99 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AX
16 & 17 October 2017
Over the past 18 months the Maritime Charities Group has commissioned research on the needs of our seafarers and their families and how the UK Maritime Charity Sector can best meet them now and in the future. The research has also focused on the current size and shape of our UK Maritime Charity Sector and our overall financial health. There are many challenges ahead and we look forward to sharing our findings with you on October 16th & 17th 2017.
Read moreOn Merchant Navy Day, 3 September, the Red Ensign will be flown ashore to raise awareness of our dependence as an island nation on our past, present and future Merchant Navy seafarers.
The Red Ensign has since 1854 been the official flag of the British Merchant Navy, flown on ‘UK-flagged’ vessels of all sizes, from workboats and superyachts to container ships, fuel tankers and cruise liners. 3 September in 1939 marked the outbreak of the Second World War when the merchant ship SS Athenia was torpedoed and sunk, with the loss of 128 passengers and crew.
Read moreA charity set up in the midst of World War One to assist families of seafarers lost or injured at sea will be one hundred years old on 5 July.
Charting the charity’s history, a ‘Centenary Timeline’ – www.seafarers.uk/timeline – identifies milestone activities and the role of key individuals, including King George V who gave his name to what was originally known simply as the Sailors’ Fund.
Read moreSea Cadets from London, Kent and Essex had an amazing opportunity to tour casualty ship RFA Argus at the start of Seafarers Awareness Week (24-30 June), the annual campaign coordinated by maritime charity Seafarers UK.
100 young people and volunteers from Sea Cadets units in Beckenham and Penge, Bexley and Lewisham, Orpington, Southwark, Sutton, Chelmsford, Maldon and District and Thurrock visited the vessel moored at Greenwich on Monday 26 June.
Read moreAs the UK finally embarks on Brexit negotiations, our island nation’s attention is being focused on the vital role our ports, harbours and seafarers will have to play in the future.
Increased world trade will likely increase the 95% of imports and exports that currently pass through our sea ports. Merchant ships continue to grow in size, the largest now 400m long and capable of carrying 20,000 containers. Half our food comes from overseas and the UK is dependent on imported oil, gas and biofuel for our power stations and vehicles.
Read moreThe Ministry of Defence has announced that The Aged Veterans Fund has awarded £22.7 million of LIBOR funding to ten charities to improve support and introduce new services to help older veterans.
Read moreThe leading maritime charity, Seafarers UK, is holding its Centenary Dinner at Guildhall this evening, exactly 100 years to the day since the first meeting was held in 1917 in the City of London to discuss the formation of the charity (previously known as King George’s Fund for Sailors).
Almost 300 guests will attend a formal Reception and Dinner in Guildhall to mark the occasion. Celebrated guests will include HRH The Earl of Wessex (President of the charity since 2012, when he succeeded The Duke of Edinburgh), Admiral of The Fleet The Lord Boyce, Admiral The Lord West of Spithead and the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones.
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