OUR IMPACT
Seafarers UK 2011
‘The rigours of the seafaring life have already dealt our maritime communities some severe blows, and economic constraints only compound their problems. While the levels of nautical need continue to reflect this, Seafarers UK remains steadfast in its work and proud to bring succour to our many thousand beneficiaries, young and old alike, across every corner of our island nation.’ Peter Wilkinson, Chair of Trustees, Seafarers UK
£2.499 million
The total value of grants awarded by Seafarers UK to maritime charities and organisations in 2011
£4.33 million
The total amount of funding for which charities and groups applied to Seafarers UK in 2011
71
The number of beneficiary organisations to which Seafarers UK gave grants in 2011
260,315
The total number of beneficiaries helped by those organisations supported by Seafarers UK in 2011
The following publications can also be found at www.seafarers-uk.org: 2011 Annual Report Introduction to Seafarers UK leaflet Flagship online magazine Flagpost e-newsletter sign-up
Introduction
In describing ourselves as ‘the leading charity for seafarers in need’, we do not make that claim lightly. We believe that we have a unique leadership role as the only national maritime charity reaching across all aspects of the Merchant and Royal Navies and the fishing fleets. This enables us to undertake cross-sector activity which benefits all seafarers and the many smaller charities which support them, and indeed for the whole maritime community. As available cash becomes tighter, however, our fundraising team is constantly looking for different ways to attract new supporters and raise donations. Many industries support the maritime sector, and the vast majority of organisations and people are also reliant on shipping and seafarers. An ongoing aim of our fundraising and campaigning is to make all those whose livelihoods are impacted upon by the role of the seafarer and the sea, understand the importance and relevance of the needs of the ‘front-line’ seafaring community, and what they can do to help.
Chairman Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson
I would also like to think there is room to pursue a wider and more ethereal vision, however, where not only are there sufficient resources to meet existing needs, but one where seafarers can carry out their business in great waters without facing the daily hazards of piracy, shipwreck, injury, and fire, as well as the emotional traumas of separation from friends and family, and isolation from the modern social and technological amenities that the rest of us take for granted. We will not reach this nautical Nirvana unless we maintain our promotion of the seafaring cause to all. Whilst we will continue to right present wrongs and relieve distress at the many levels on which we operate, from the bereaved child through the shipwrecked fisherman to the lonely and poverty-stricken veteran, we must also campaign for greater public awareness of seafaring problems, for greater safety at sea and, above all, a greater public appreciation of just how vital the sea and its people are to our national life. We are a small team with a big vision - please help us to achieve it!
Commodore Barry Bryant CVO, RN Director General Seafarers UK
© Royal Household Bagshot Park only to be reproduced with permission
One thing we have rarely lacked at Seafarers UK is a vision of where we’re going and what we want to achieve. There are always new initiatives or projects to pursue, but in basic terms we just want to raise as much money as possible and spend it as wisely and efficiently as we can - and that applies not just for ourselves but for all the many charities that make up our sector.
President His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex, KG, GCVO
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Who we help and why Seafarers UK is here to support seafarers and their families when times get tough. Our Royal Charter describes our charitable objects as: • The relief of seafarers, their families or dependants, who are in need. • The education and training of people of any age to prepare for work or service at sea. • The promotion of efficiency and effectiveness in the maritime charitable sector. • The promotion of safety at sea. We depend on the Merchant Navy, Fishing Fleets, Royal Navy and Royal Marines to defend our shores, trade with other countries and put food on our plates. But a life at sea is a hard one; for seafarers themselves and those who they leave behind at home.
Every day seafarers face serious risks like storms, pirates and heavy machinery. Their income can be unpredictable and they’re often away for many months at a time, with little possibility to talk to friends or family. In some cases the dangers and isolation of the job can led to injury, disability, debt, depression, homelessness and even death. There are about 80,0001 active British seafarers, and many, many more ex-seafarers - be they veterans or retired or those who have been forced to leave their profession early - and at any one time a large number of them will be facing problems of very different kinds. At the same time, the maritime sector is crucial for the UK’s economic well-being, as well as the smooth running of the global economy at large. Our seafarers have a fundamentally important role in this, transporting over 90% of all our trade by sea and protecting our national interests overseas. This, coupled with the unique dangers of their lives, is why it is so important for us to recognise their contribution to society and to support them during difficult times. 1 As at 2011: 27,800 merchant seafarers actively working at sea; 12,700 fishermen; 36,640 serving RN and RM personnel, and 2,300 Royal Navy Reserves (Reference Royal Navy, British Chamber of Shipping and Department for Transport)
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Bert Bernard Perry, known as Bert, was at sea all his life, starting off in the Merchant Navy. For the duration of WWII he was a Leading Seaman with the Mobilised Naval Service, involved in the Arctic Convoys. Between 1941 and 1945, the convoys transported more than four million tonnes of supplies to the Soviet Union, but more than 100 ships were lost with 3,000 sailors losing their lives. Bert’s post war occupation was with Harland Wolfe Shipbuilders in Glasgow. Bert’s health has deteriorated over the past few years and he now lives at The Erskine Home in Bishopton. Last year Seafarers UK provided a grant of £35,000 to Erskine to support them in their work helping people like Bert.
Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Benevolent Trust In 2011 we provided a grant to the Shipwrecked Mariners of £284,296. The money provides help to merchant seafarers, fishermen and dependants in need. Support ranges from immediate grants to widows when a seafarer dies; regular grants to retired and elderly seafarers and widows; and grants to those retiring early due to ill health, disability or accident. The charity supports those such as the 64 year old widow of a former Merchant Seaman, who although fairly young has various health problems including emphysema and arthritis, which makes it very difficult for her to use the stairs. The charity covered the cost of a stair lift. She wrote to thank the charity stating that, “The difference it will make to my life is tremendous”.
Hayley Hayley has been a Sea Cadet for a number of years and the volunteers and instructors have provided some of the support and guidance she no longer gets from her parents since moving into residential care. Hayley recently went offshore on the Sea Cadet flagship, TS Royalist. The decision to go was a difficult one, but with her Commanding Officer’s encouragement she journeyed to Scotland to meet up with the ship. The voyage with 20 other Sea Cadets was a fantastic challenge for Hayley. She came back with a huge boost to her self-confidence and selfesteem. She is now working hard to gain a promotion to Leading Cadet with one eye on a career in the Merchant or Royal Navies. In 2011 Seafarers UK awarded £100,000 to the Marine Society and Sea Cadets to support over 360 separate Sea Cadet units throughout the UK in providing security fencing, alarms and gates, general building works or simply boat equipment.
Michael Michael Marten served in the Royal Navy for 12 years as a Royal Navy Clearance Diver until he was injured in a water skiing accident, which left him with a spinal cord injury. The British Ex-Services Wheelchair Association (BEWSA) allows people like Michael to attend a number of Paralsyed Veterans Wheelchair Games in the US and to attempt several different wheelchair sports in the UK. Michael particularly enjoys wheelchair racing in which BEWSA has encouraged and supported him. He has completed in 100 marathons - more than anyone else in a wheelchair in the UK. Michael said “Although I am not very fast, these races are a source of pride and satisfaction to me and provide me with motivation and fitness. I know that I would never have even started racing without that first experience provided by Seafarers UK and BEWSA.” Last year Seafarers UK supported BEWSA with a grant of £20,500 for them to continue with their work.
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How we help Seafarers UK is the largest provider of grants to maritime charities based in the UK. Seafarers UK has been providing grants for 95 years, working to resolve the problems of seafarers and their families experiencing hardship. Seafarers UK works through the people who really understand these individuals; usually small local maritime charities that are known and trusted by the communities they’re based in. In this way, our lean organisation of just 20 people can help tens of thousands of seafarers every year. In turn the charities we support provide services to approximately 260,000 people in a single year. These services have a direct and positive impact on the lives and well-being of individuals, their families and their local communities.
Importantly, we are the only grant-making charity in the seafaring community that assesses the welfare need of the maritime sector as a whole. This enables us to target our funding efficiently and directly to those in greatest need. The knowledge we have gained as a result enables us to work closely with other key maritime charities in distributing grants to maximize the impact of our combined funds over the year.
Our grants
In 2011 we were approached by 78 organisations seeking a total of ÂŁ4.33 million. By the end of the year we made 73 grants to 71 organisations for a total of ÂŁ2.499 million. Key beneficiary areas by sector: Maritime youth 4%
Fishing 17% Royal Navy/ Royal Marines 36%
Merchant Navy 43%
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‘We continue today to assist those families most in need of help and without the grant provided by Seafarers UK that assistance would be sorely tested.’ Linda Gidman, Chief Executive, The Royal Liverpool Seaman’s Orphan Institution Key beneficiary areas by service: £350,708
Accommodation £111,800
Advice/info services
£376,617
Children/young people £75,000
Education/training
£342,983
General welfare services £165,000
Health/care services £79,539
Improving efficiency
£190,035
One-off grants
£338,157
Port-based welfare services Regular grants
£468,804
Key beneficiary areas by person Older and ex-seafarers £1.042m
Seafarers’ dependants and families £610,760
Seafarers of working age £663,935 Maritime youth groups £105,000 0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Increasing efficiency in the maritime charity sector £76,850
£ M I LLI ON
Grants impact assessment Seafarers UK operates across a wide grants programme covering different sectors, activities and services. We therefore operate a detailed grant application process, assessing what charities are seeking funding for and collecting information on the activities and management
of the organisations applying. In particular we ask charities to identify clearly the change in circumstance for end beneficiaries. We believe this approach is the best and most efficient way of understanding, assessing and evaluating the impact that our grants will make.
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How our grants impact Seafish
Fishing is officially the most dangerous job in the UK. There are many factors that affect safety at sea, but up-to-date knowledge of safe working practices and emergency procedures is vital. By law all commercial fishermen on UK registered vessels are required to undertake five one-day basic safety training courses, but there is no requirement for them to keep their safety knowledge and skills up-to-date. In 2011 Seafarers UK gave a £70,000 grant to Seafish for a two-and-a-half year project to provide experienced fishermen with the opportunity to voluntarily re-attend basic safety training courses free of charge. Combined with other contributions and with matched European
Lucy Lucy is four. Her mother, Liz, served in the Royal Navy for 16 years and her father Bruce is now in his 20th year as part of the Royal Navy. Liz said “Lucy was in a mainstream nursery and was struggling as she has a speech disorder. Her frustration at not being able to communicate lead to tantrums and challenging behaviour. It has been stressful for us as a family. My husband has been at sea and neither of us have family locally. Since being at KIDS Lucy has made incredible progress”. Lucy has had access to KIDS’ speech and language services. Lucy is also using KIDS’ short break service to give her Mum a chance to have respite from her caring responsibilities. On return from deployment, Lucy’s Dad, Bruce, was amazed by the improvement in her communication. “Thank you Seafarers UK for making it possible to use this service.” In 2011 Seafarers UK awarded KIDS a grant of £30,000 to support its work.
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funding, this will enable Seafish to deliver 7,200 training places, making a huge contribution to efforts aimed at reducing the number of deaths and injuries suffered by the estimated 12,700 UK fishermen.
Seafarers Advice and Information Line (SAIL)
2011 saw our grant of £87,000 to the Seamen’s Hospital Society continue its work to support the development of SAIL. This excellent facility provides a telephone advice service via a ‘local rate call’ from anywhere in the UK, providing information and guidance, benefit checks, help completing forms and negotiating with other agencies to secure seafarers and their immediate dependants their entitlements.
Sailors’ Children’s Society
In 2011 we received an application from the Sailors’ Children’s Society based in Hull. The grant was to develop their Family Support Scheme which currently supports over 450 children whose families have served in the Fishing Fleets or the Royal or Merchant Navies. Financial support reaches out to single parent families (many of them single due to bereavement) and to families where one of the parents is too ill or disabled to work, and the other acts as carer. Seafarers UK was able to provide a grant of £69,000, working in partnership with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity who funded a further £69,000.
Apostleship of the Sea
Seafarers UK regularly supports Apostleship of the Sea with grants, and in 2011 we provided a grant of £30,000 to help their Port Chaplains and volunteer ship visitors continue to welcome seafarers, offer welfare services and provide advice, practical help and pastoral care both in the UK and overseas.
Chris Chris Berghout started as a seafarer at the age of 15 working on Dutch ships as a deck boy. In 1940, he was on board a ship sailing along the south coast when it was hit by a bomb. After six hours in a lifeboat he was picked up and eventually ended up at the Queen Victoria Seamen’s Rest (QVSR). Chris then started working on English ships travelling between England and New York using the QVSR as a base in between voyages. In 1988 he retired and chose to stay there permanently. Chris has been in hospital many times over the past few years and has undergone a heart operation. The welfare staff are on hand to visit him in hospital and make sure he has everything he needs. They also help him with his regular doctor and hospital visits, often having to remind him of when they are. Last January when Chris moved to a new room the welfare staff liaised with social services to ensure he had the adaptations he needed in the bathroom. He tells us: “The Queen Vic is my second home now; I couldn’t find a better place!” In 2011 Seafarers UK awarded the QVSR a grant of £46,218.
Mission to Seafarers
It is worth remembering that when Seafarers UK was established in 1917 (as King George’s Fund for Sailors), it was for seafarers from across the UK and the Commonwealth. The focus of our grants has always been on UK seafarers. However, where we are able to identify a need to support Commonwealth seafarers that can be achieved at reasonable cost we are willing to consider applications from outside the UK. In December 2011 we were able to make a grant of £123,157 to support the work of the Mission to Seafarers. Although based in the UK, the Mission operates across the world and the grant will support the running and associated costs of their work in five ports; Cardiff, Newport, Port Talbot, Singapore and Cyprus, and for a general contribution towards their work in Scotland.
Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen
In 2011 we awarded a grant of £120,000 to the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen to continue to provide support at Mission Centres located around the UK coast, providing welfare provision for current and retired fishermen and their families.
Jason Petty Officer Marine Engineering Artificer Jason Osborne was severely brain damaged in a car accident when he was 37. Jason now needs constant care. His mother Ann, 71, served with the Women’s Royal Naval Service from 1958-64. Although Jason, now 46, lives in a nursing home, Ann felt he would benefit from being able to come home and wanted to make her house wheelchair accessible and suitable for someone with Jason’s complex needs. She needed to raise £60,000 to extend her home and when she struggled to find the full amount she turned to SSAFA Forces Help. Her caseworker managed to raise the final £15,000 needed and the project was able to go ahead. Ann now has a ground floor extension which means Jason can spend time at home with his family surrounded by familiar things. In 2011 Seafarers UK gave a grant to SSAFA of £62,489.
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Supporters & Partners Our supporter base is crucial and ranges from long-term regular donors, corporate partners, volunteer fundraisers, Trusts and Charitable Foundations through to challenge event participants and those who give us a gift in kind, a one-off donation or who leave us a gift in their Will. All of them are equally amazing and without them we wouldn’t be able to achieve the national impact we do through our grant making. Individual donors
The loyal support that we received in 2011 from our donors, volunteers and fundraisers continued to be quite astonishing, especially with the economic climate in mind. Donations, especially regular ones, make a significant difference to the charity’s voluntary income and we are immensely grateful to all individuals and their families who gave money, time and effort in 2011. Most donations arrive through the traditional methods of raising voluntary income, such as via events, responses to appeals or the set-up of direct debits, but in 2011 we also began to find new and more inventive ways of giving. Two examples of this were text donations by mobile phone and registering as a charity on eBay. The latter enables people selling items to donate some, or all, of
the proceeds to Seafarers UK. It is still early days but we are working hard to make it easier for individuals to donate whenever and wherever, and via routes which are easiest for them.
“Seafarers have a very harsh time. As an ex-seafarer from a seafaring family I feel great comradeship towards all those who serve at sea. I admire the work that Seafarers UK does to ensure support is given across the seafaring sector. For me, the opportunity to give to a charity that supports all of our seafarers and their dependants is very important.” Phil Woollcombe, a regular donor
Examples of what different levels of donation can result in:
£25
10
could contribute towards the costs of a new school uniform or winter coat of a child whose father has been badly injured or killed whilst at sea.
£150
will provide three children with bereavement counselling.
£500
will go towards one week’s worth of dementia care for a seafarer.
Impact review | Seafarers UK, 2011
£1,000
£5,000
can provide monthly grants to three widows of deceased Merchant Seamen for a year. would help supplement the basic state pension of over 200 retired fishermen and their widows for a year, or provide a homeless ex-Royal Marine with a room for a year.
The President’s Appeal
In the year of his 90th birthday, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh lent his personal support to our main fundraising Appeal for 2011. This included hosting a major reception at Buckingham Palace in March to launch the appeal. This was in honour of Prince Philip’s many years of support as the charity’s President and also as a way of acknowledging and celebrating his lifelong connection with the sea and his Naval service. The occasion afforded many of Seafarers UK’s most faithful supporters the opportunity to meet and talk with The Duke of Edinburgh during the evening. By the end of the year The President’s Appeal had attracted £136,000 in donations, with a further £60,000 promised for 2012 and 2013.
Corporate Partners
policies and engaging employees across different parts of its business. Such a partnership could involve sponsorship of an event, a cause-related marketing arrangement, charity partner status for the year or taking part in a fundraising challenge. Companies can also be a corporate patron or corporate partner of Seafarers UK, providing different levels of benefit such as event invites, tailored communication and promotional support.
In particular the following maritime businesses were extremely supportive in 2011: Carnival UK with £9,000 from their on-board collections; ABP Humber with £12,364 from their challenge event fundraising; Rolls Royce with a donation of £10,000; Fish’n’Chick’n whose customers raised £9,000, and Maersk who donated £5,000 towards Seafarers Awareness Week. Our key partnership with Fuller’s also saw further growth in sales of Seafarers Ale, with £33,000 raised for Seafarers UK during the year.
Corporate fundraising is an important area for Seafarers UK, and includes partnerships, corporate donations and employee fundraising. It is relatively early days in terms of potential income generation for the charity, but some very strong relationships do exist and in 2011 these continued to be nurtured and developed. Seafarers UK works to tailor its partnerships in order to meet a firm’s objectives, including raising its corporate profile, supporting its CSR
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Supporters & Partners, continued
Gifts in Wills and ‘In memoriam’ donations
In 2011 Seafarers UK received just over £1 million from gifts in Wills, representing about one-third of our income for the year. Each bequest is highly valued and we never forget that behind every single one is an individual - either the actual donor or the person who inspired the gift. One such gift in 2011 was from the estate of Sidney Drewett and his wife, Joan. We learnt that Sidney had been inspired to remember Seafarers UK in his Will because in giving to one charity, it meant that he was able to support many in the years ahead. The greatest tribute we can pay, therefore, to Sidney and all those other kind and generous people who leave a gift in their Will to Seafarers UK, or arrange an In Memoriam donation on behalf of someone, is to keep their memories alive for the future through the work that we do in continuing to take care of the wartime generation or through looking after the children of today’s seafarers who may be adversely affected by a parent’s absence. We can further commit to the future through the development of young people in maritime youth organisations.
Examples of what different levels of donation can result in: £10,000
£50,000
will contribute towards the annual cost of a trained member of staff in a care home and day centre for retired and frail mariners, providing a person-centred and dignified quality of life. will help over 100 children of deceased fishermen to complete their education and fulfil their potential to Degree level. would support the work of
£100,000 Community Outreach Teams
nationwide helping veterans suffering from acute mental stress to re-build their life skills and undertake training programmes and employment schemes.
Acknowledgements
© RMaersk Line
Seafarers UK is incredibly thankful for the support it gains from a number of Trusts and Charitable Foundations. It means a great deal to Seafarers UK and their loyalty is not taken for granted. Likewise, Seafarers UK would like to thank all those companies, and their employees, that supported it in various ways during 2011. It’s hugely appreciated.
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How our grants impact Roy In 1942, Roy Ticehurst, joined the Royal Navy aged 18 as an Ordinary Seaman. Roy saw action in the D-Day Landings and witnessed many esteemed comrades lost in action. When he left the Navy, he retrained as a painter and decorator and was involved in painting many of London’s hospitals. Roy moved to the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society care home in 1992 with his wife. They spent eight years living together until his wife sadly passed away. Today, aged 88, Roy lives independently in the home’s sheltered flats and can call upon the assistance of the Royal Alfred’s nursing care staff should it ever be required. Roy has sold poppies for the British Legion for over 40 years and has recently taken part in a project to raise awareness among the younger generation of the important role both Navies play in our society. Last year Seafarers UK gave the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society a grant of £30,000.
Combat Stress
A grant of £100,000 was awarded to the ExServices Mental Welfare Society, Combat Stress in 2011. This grant will continue to support Combat Stress in providing two key services - short term specialist treatment at three centres in Surrey, Shropshire and Ayrshire, and support services provided by 15 Regional Welfare Officers in veterans’ homes and the community.
Regular Forces Employment Association
A £20,000 grant to the Regular Forces Employment Association, was made in 2011 to assist them in their on-going work to assist Royal Navy personnel to find work whenever they leave the service.
Grants in Scotland
Some years ago we made a public commitment to ensure that at least the equivalent of the amount raised through fundraising in Scotland would be spent supporting organisations and charities either based or operating in Scotland. We are pleased to report that once again last year we exceeded this commitment by funding organisations ranging from Cobhair Barragh, on the Isle of Barra in the West, to the Peterhead and District Fishermen’s Benevolent Fund in the East, down to the Combat Stress treatment centre in Ayr. In addition, in 2011 we were able to make a substantial grant to support the development of a new care home in Sterling.
steve Steve is 53 and joined the Navy in 1975 at the age of 17. He served for 21 years and was very proud to have achieved this service. During this time he served on board HMS Cardiff in the 1990-91 Gulf War. Whilst playing rugby for the Navy he sustained some severe physical injuries which, along with some mental and physical illnesses following the Gulf War, brought about a medical discharge. Steve joined the National Gulf Veterans & Families Association (NGVFA) in 2002 where he has benefited from the services they provide. He has attended three respite breaks with his family and on his own. Recently Steve has also made use of the NGVFA’s counselling service, which specialises in the problems faced by ex-service personnel. This has helped him to make many positive changes to his life. Seafarers UK supported the NGVFA with a grant of £17,573 last year to help them to continue their important work.
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Fundraising events Challenge events “We’re both running for Seafarers UK in memory of Mike’s dad. The work that the charity does, helping such a wide variety of people and families, is inspirational and should help us to the finish line.” Mike and Liz Jenkins, London Marathon runners
In 2011, Seafarers UK was represented in the London Marathon, British 10k and Great South Run. The London Marathon had 23 participants running on the day to raise funds for Seafarers UK. Of particular note was Sergeant Carl Creasey, Royal Marines who succeeded in breaking the world record of running a marathon whilst carrying a 60lb pack on his back. Carl completed the race in an astonishing four hours and 56 minutes! Paul Smith achieved the amazing feat of running the marathon in support of Seafarers UK for a fifth time.
“The 24 Peaks Challenge is the best team building event I have ever attended. It is tough, but extremely rewarding. It covers so many activities which test your team really well including logistics, fundraising, being together in confined spaces, supporting each other over rugged terrain etc. All of this for an excellent cause - what else can you ask for?” Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General, InterManager
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The 24 Peaks Challenge is one of Seafarers UK’s own branded challenge events. It is a daunting and highly physical team competition. In 2011 11 teams battled their way through training, long journeys, gruelling climbing and foul weather to take part in what is a most fantastic fundraising event. Over the July weekend the rain in the Lake District was unrelenting and only served to highlight how testing and difficult this ultimate team-building challenge is. The fundraising achieved by those involved was magnificent and as in recent years this event continues to be one of the most important in our fundraising calendar.
involved too, with the A Bar in Portsmouth raising £400 in donations from customers and Drink Shop Do in London running a series of nautically themed evenings for their customers.
Every penny our supporters fundraise goes towards our grants and helping the beneficiary organisations and individuals that Seafarers UK is here to help.
The Fish & Chip Feast ran for the second time in October, this time attracting a lot of promotional support from the likes of Seafish (the industry regulator), T Quality, a wholesale supplier for the fish and chip industry, and Fry Magazine, a retail trade publication. A number of shops and restaurants took part with Fish’n’Chick’n, the UK’s largest chain of independent fish and chip shops, raising £9,000 from a prize draw for their customers. The campaign was very successful in gaining profile for the charity across the sector.
An increasing area of fundraising for Seafarers UK is people participating in their own personal challenge. In 2011 some notable examples of this type of support included a climb to Everest base camp, competing in an Iron Man challenge, shaving off some beloved and very long dreadlocks, growing moustaches and taking part in a Christmas Day swim in Weymouth harbour. We are in awe of all our incredible fundraisers and thank them so much for their efforts. On 10 June 2011 shipping company employees were asked to have a bit of fun whilst at work by taking part in Nautical Friday and raising funds for seafarers in need at the same time. North P&I went one further and organised a ‘Nauti-Ball’ at the Newcastle Old Assembly Rooms, raising £1,700. Maersk were strong participants in the day too, raising £1,595 across their various offices from nautical fancy dress competitions and at Polestar Global they raised £836 through such means as a ‘cake & nibbles’ sale, battleships competitions, knot-tying and fancy dress. Local businesses got
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Fundraising events, continued
Community fundraising
Across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, hundreds of volunteers worked tirelessly during 2011, as they have done for many years, to raise funds in support of Seafarers UK. Most of them are part of a local committee of volunteers who organise all sorts of fundraising opportunities throughout the year from flag days, cocktail receptions, ceilidhs, Royal Marines Band concerts, lunches, bridge parties, raffles and the selling of Christmas cards. The work they do forms the backbone of the charity’s fundraising efforts and is hugely appreciated. In 2011 over 10,000 people attended a Royal Marines Band concert in support of Seafarers UK. These concerts enable Seafarers UK to reach out into local communities and potentially gain new supporters. The concerts continued to be very well received by all those attending, irrespective of age, emphasising the musicality and showmanship of those who make up the Royal Marines Bands, and the diversity of their programmes of music.
“As an island nation we have strong links with the sea and must consider carefully how we would survive if it were not for our merchantmen, fishing fleets and highly trained Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Felixstowe committee members not only work together to raise funds for Seafarers UK but also enjoy a wonderful social experience of camaraderie and teamwork. It is a wholly satisfying part of our lives.” Captain Derek Peters, Chairman of Felixstowe Fundraising Committee
Scotland events
As always, every penny fundraised in Scotland continues to be spent in Scotland. This is in support of our long-term funding of both Scottishbased charities - providing local services to serving or ex-Merchant Navy or Royal Navy personnel, as well as fishing fleet beneficiaries - and of other national charities providing welfare services across Scotland. Seafarers UK volunteers were involved in many successful fundraising events and Royal Marines Band concerts across Scotland during the year, as well as Armed Forces Day and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. At a more local level, Scottish fundraising in 2011 also included the inaugural Maritime Fun Day in Anstruther. This was coordinated by Dr Robert Prescott of our Perth & Fife volunteers group. The event involved a rowing challenge, numerous stalls, a raffle and tours of the restored sailing drifter ‘Reaper’. The day’s activities helped to raise £1,000 for Seafarers UK.
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Campaigning and communications A quarter of children say Captain Jack Sparrow is Britain’s most famous seaman, while a third of adults did not know that the Merchant Navy transports cargo and passengers to and from the UK. A 2011 Opinion Matters survey for Seafarers UK of 1,269 adults and 1,063 children
Why campaign?
A key Seafarers UK objective is not only to raise its own profile and to increase its own levels of voluntary and fundraising income and thus grant-giving, but also to raise awareness of the maritime sector in its entirety and thereby increase people’s understanding of the roles, lives, difficulties and contributions of our seafarers. Only then will greater numbers of people begin to appreciate why the welfare of seafarers who are in need, and their dependants, is so important. To do this, Seafarers UK must not only communicate with its existing audiences, but campaign to reach new ones, both on its behalf and for maritime charities who have the resources to deliver services but not to market themselves or fundraise. Seafarers UK will therefore need to re-position itself in the minds of supporters and potential supporters as a charity that is not only dynamic, with stronger brand value and name recognition, but one that has a clearly communicated vision and sense of purpose. In so doing, Seafarers UK aims to be recognised as a supporter, funder, enabler and leader - an organisation that helps maritime charities reach out more easily and effectively to those who haven’t thought about the sea, ships or seafarers before and gain their interest, support and involvement.
Seafarers Awareness Week
In 2011 Seafarers UK took some further steps towards beginning to raise the general public’s awareness of the importance of the maritime sector, and the role and contribution of seafarers in this, by holding Seafarers Awareness Week in early June. The core channels of the campaign were social and broadcast media and Seafarers UK produced a ‘what if?’ type video for sharing via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. The threeminute film posed the simple, but deliberately farfetched question of what would happen to the UK’s economy and society over the following 10 days if all the world’s ships suddenly disappeared. It was viewed over 7,500 times and also short-listed for a 2011 Maritime Foundation media award.
There were 18 radio station broadcast interviews about Seafarers Awareness Week on Monday 6 June plus Sky News Radio feeding to more than 150 other local radio stations. This took the form of either broadcast interviews with Seafarers UK staff or the highlighting of survey results about the low levels of maritime knowledge in the UK, carried out as part of the campaign.
Impact review | Seafarers UK, 2011
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Campaigning and communications, continued
Reaching out
In 2011 our media work took on a more professional approach with Seafarers UK being able to proactively target specific publications and journalists across national, regional and local titles with key stories and news items about our grant-giving and our fundraising work. We also began to focus more seriously on social media, particularly Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In. An ambition for 2012 is to develop and grow both our media relations capability and also our social media and online channels in terms of coverage, content and followers.
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Impact review | Seafarers UK, 2011
Communicating with impact Seafarers UK needs to communicate with a diverse range of audiences across maritime charities and their beneficiaries, individual donors, fundraisers, volunteers and concert goers as well as shipping businesses, Trusts, Parliamentarians, trade bodies, sponsors, journalists and more. And for each audience, Seafarers UK will often have a different objective, message, ‘ask’ or communication channel in mind. Communications work in 2011 included updates to the charity’s magazine, Flagship, which has a readership of over 10,000 and continues to gain increasingly good feedback with each issue. An
online version was also launched in December, allowing supporters to read the magazine using page-turning software on our website. A new ‘Introduction to Seafarers UK’ flyer was produced which explained in brief who we are and what we do, highlighting a number of charities that receive grants as case studies. We created a brand new Welcome Pack for new supporters and fundraisers, a new look and feel for our Royal Marines Band Concert programmes, supporting materials for our Nautical Friday and Fish & Chip Feast campaigns and on-going news and content for our website, which is due to be revamped in 2012.
Impact review | Seafarers UK, 2011
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Working in partnership Improving efficiency
We believe that further development of a more ‘joined-up’ approach to grant-making across the maritime sector results in benefits for all our beneficiaries. We plan to develop this collaborative approach further in future years both with individual maritime charities and within wider maritime forums such as the Maritime Charities Funding Group. Our role in representing our colleagues on similar bodies such as The Confederation of Service Charities, COBSEO, and Veterans Scotland takes a considerable slice of our time but is essential if the maritime voice is to be heard and will assume an even greater significance in the future. One related area that we have developed recently is using the experience and capacity of our London-based staff to provide services to smaller organisations. For instance, we are supplying finance and grants administration, grants assessment and human resources advice to the newly formed Forces in Mind Trust, enabling that organisation’s small staff to focus on their core business of helping those leaving the armed forces cope with transferring to civilian life. Good for their efficiency and good for our income.
Collaboration
Where possible, as with the rest of the voluntary sector, we also need to collaborate and partner more with other charities and organisations. This already occurs at the level of the Maritime Charities Funding Group, but some new channels are opening up including increased engagement with such organisations as the Sea Cadets, the Merchant Navy Welfare Board, Trinity House, the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity and Sea Vision. More partnership work with trade bodies, membership organisations and beneficiary charities is also a clear objective for Seafarers UK going forward.
Maritime Charities Funding Group The Maritime Charities Funding Group (MCFG) is a partnership of maritime charities working together to deliver a range of efficient welfare projects across the entire UK maritime sector. As a founding member of the MCFG, we have always been at the centre of its research and project activities and, after taking the Chair in January 2012, we are considering how best to carry forward ongoing initiatives and lessons from the Group’s Conference in October 2011, organised by Seafarers UK.
Working under the umbrella of the MCFG, and in conjunction with other partners, Seafarers UK contributed £40,000 in 2011 (as part of on-going funding) to a project to help charities conducting ship visits and running Seafarers Centres at UK ports. The project involves the replacement of 82 minibuses, MPVs and cars used by staff, volunteers and Port Chaplains in and around UK commercial and fishing ports, and is an example of successful collaborative work in a difficult financial climate.
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Impact review | Seafarers UK, 2011
Core vision and key aims Our core vision is: • Remaining ‘the leading charity for the UK’s maritime community’. • Adopting a stronger central position in the maritime charity sector, providing a focus for campaigning and managing generic services and projects. • Supplying a stronger and more successful fundraising and grant-making service to the sector.
• Providing a focus for maritime welfare research and the link with other external data sources.
Our key aims are: • To improve the quality of life for seafarers and their families in times of need by securing more efficient aid and support for them. • To ensure the effective distribution of funds to those charities that help them, so as to assist as many people as possible.
2011 financial overview £3.04 million
Donation and legacy income
Event, sponsorship and advertising income
Other income generation
Investment income
Charitable activities expenditure (inc. grants to beneficiary organisations)
£1.47 million
£368,000 £116,000
Voluntary income and activities for generating funds jointly raised £1.83 million in 2011, and with grants of £2.5 million this means that every penny given to Seafarers UK made it directly to the recipient charities.
£1.12 million
For more information on our 2011 finances and governance, please download our 2011 Annual Report from our website.
Impact review | Seafarers UK, 2011
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Looking ahead: 2012/13 2012 includes The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics and the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. It is also the 95th anniversary of Seafarers UK (King George’s Fund for Sailors). With this in mind, much is planned.
In early 2012 we launched The Seafarers UK Children’s Appeal, which is due to run until the Summer of 2013. Its key aim is to increase the support we give to charities providing for the welfare needs of the children of our seafarers, and to organisations that provide activities and personal development opportunities for children in a maritime environment. The appeal will give a real focus to all our fundraising over this period. In addition we are offering some new challenge events in 2012, including the Great London Swim and the Great Edinburgh Run, as well as an Apprentice-style challenge for corporates throughout the month of June, culminating on Nautical Friday (29 June). We are also investigating potential for an overseas challenge in 2013. New communications are also being launched, with a Seafarers UK e-newsletter, Flagpost, now available to sign up to from our website and a navigation make-over for our website planned for mid-2012. Seafarers Awareness Week (25 June to 1 July) will of course play a major part in our
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Impact review | Seafarers UK, 2011
programme of events, which this year coincides with Armed Forces Week in Plymouth, where we plan to have a strong presence. Another area that we wish to develop in 2012 is that of our Commonwealth seafarers. Commercial shipping has become the ultimate global industry and now it is not unusual to find large merchant or cruise vessels crewed by many different nationalities. Given limited resources, we have always tended to prioritise our activities on the past generations of UK seafarers. However, a number of companies have indicated that they would be interested in helping even more if we extended our aid to Commonwealth countries. We are therefore in discussions with those organisations with more knowledge in this area with a view to establishing a new Commonwealth Fund. Such work would not diminish our longstanding focus nearer to home, but it would both enhance our standing in the eyes of the shipping industry, and also help to fulfill our Royal Charter where we are able to identify a need to support Commonwealth seafarers at a reasonable cost.
1.2 million
The approximate number of people in the UK seafaring community
7 billion
The estimated total economic cost in US dollars of Somali piracy in 2011
26.5 billion
The equivalent number in pounds sterling that the UK maritime sector contributed to UK GDP in 2010
30%
657
The number of injured fishermen (2001 to 2010)
6,000
An estimate of the number of non-UK seafarers arriving at UK ports each day
12,700
The number of UK registered commercial fishermen in 2011
27,800
The number of British merchant seamen actively working as at 2011
The percentage above the national average of seafarers’ children and families experiencing complex The number of serving Royal Navy emotional needs personnel, not including reserves, in Nov 2011
36,640
51%
The percentage of UK food, the lifeblood of the nation, imported in 2010 - the vast majority of which is carried by sea
95%
The percentage of total UK trade carried by ship
227
The number of fishing vessels lost at sea (2001 to 2010)
531,000
The number of jobs that the UK maritime sector supports across ports, shipping and maritime business service sectors
606,000
The number of tonnes of sea fish and shell fish landed by UK vessels in 2010 Sources for above statistics include: Maritime UK Oxford Economics Report 2011, DEFRA, Department for Transport, MCFG, The Royal Navy, The British Chamber of Shipping and One Earth Future Foundation.
Seafarers UK is the leading maritime charity that supports and promotes the many organisations that look after seafarers in need across the Merchant Navy, Fishing Fleets, Royal Navy and Royal Marines, together with their families.
020 7932 0000 seafarers@seafarers-uk.org @seafarers_uk Facebook.com/SeafarersUK www.seafarers-uk.org Or write to us at: Seafarers UK 8 Hatherley Street London SW1P 2QT Seafarers UK (King George’s Fund for Sailors) is a registered charity in England and Wales no: 226446, incorporated under Royal Charter. Registered in Scotland no: SC038191.