You may once have looked out to sea during a storm, when sky and sea close in a black and angry wall. You probably shivered and thought "I'm glad I'm not out there".
A lot of our people are out there, whatever the weather or the season, carrying our trade, keeping food on our tables and defending our freedom. Sailors brought in the tea that warmed you up in a seaside cafe, the car that got you home through the storm and the fuel it used to get there.
Life at sea is hard. It always has been. Those of us who live on shore cannot imagine what it is like to fight through the icy North Atlantic and bring your ship to port. Sailors often live and work among these hardships and dangers for months at a time, far from their families and sustained only by camaraderie and a tradition of uncomplaining courage.
Unfortunately, for many seafarers and their families the hardship doesn't end when they reach harbour. The ancient dangers of the sea are joined by modern perils: declining fish stocks, shrinking crew rosters, oppressive regulation, dwindling communities, unemployment, poverty and the consequent strain on family life.
Fishing, for example, is the most dangerous occupation in the UK. On average there are 10 major accidents a month. 28 vessels are lost each year. This causes real hardship for families around the country: as well as suffering the pain of bereavement and incapacity, families lose their income and their role in the community. Even in less awful circumstances, every seafarer's family knows the difficulty of long separation and lives every day with the knowledge that one of their family might not come home.
From the Navy in Plymouth to the fishermen of Caithness, Britain's sailors are among the best in the world, and despite its dangers very few would give up the sea for a life on land. When they eventually have to, it can be very difficult for a sailor to adapt to retirement, unemployment or invalidity, and many never do. It is hard to find new work on the shore, if you've been a sailor all your life, and it can be very hard to adapt to the different routine and culture of normal employment. Far too many old sailors end up homeless, depressed, addicted or unemployed.
We are an island nation, and it is thanks to our sailors that we are rich and free. Now they need our support. Seafarers UK has given over £26 million in grants over the last ten years to help sailors and their families. Please help us to continue this work.