In the City of London, far-sighted ship-owners and officers realised that what was most needed was an umbrella organisation that could take a realistic overview of the need and direct resources to where they were needed. They set up a Fund for that purpose and His Majesty George V took a deep and immediate interest, giving both his name and an establishing donation of £5000 to the new organisation.
During subsequent conflicts, and in the intervening years of peace, King George's Fund continued to provide both immediate and long-term support to the casualties of war, and to others who have paid a high price for a life at sea.
We have always supported veterans, the injured and the bereaved, but we were set up as an umbrella charity to attend to the needs of the whole maritime community. In the modern world that means we deal with homelessness, unemployment, the strain on separated families, the poverty and hardship that afflict shoreline communities when fish stocks dwindle and merchant vessels grow too large for local docks.
The UK's merchant fleet is expanding, if you count the number of vessels, but the number of people employed on those ships is dropping all the time. The crew of a merchant vessel are a lot less likely to find themselves sunk in the Atlantic than they were 80 years ago, but the life of a seafarer still has its potential hardships including injury and family breakdown. Fishing is the most dangerous occupation in the UK, and the Navy Services personnel risk their lives on a daily basis. In the summer of 2005 the Fund decided to adopt a new identity. We want to make it clear to everyone that we work for all seafarers throughout the country. For our public work we have therefore adopted the name Seafarers UK. We have a great deal of work to do and we need your help to do it.