Seafarers UK, the leading charity for the maritime community, today launches its biggest ever fundraising campaign, 2 Million Reasons.
Aimed at raising awareness of the ‘forgotten’ plight of the UK’s seafarers, including fishermen, Royal Navy, Merchant Navy, Royal Marines and their families, the two-year campaign will underpin Seafarers UK’s fundraising activities for the next two years.
The Seafaring community is an overlooked group, yet seafarers often face extreme hardship: fishing is the most dangerous peacetime occupation in the UK and poverty and isolation amongst seafarers and their families are common. 82% of older seafarers report poor health, compared to an average of 33% of older people in the general population. Furthermore, seafarers’ children often bear the brunt of an unpredictable family life: 30% of seafarers’ children have complex emotional needs, compared to 4% of children in the UK.
These facts are surprising and shocking. Yet the resources available to support our seafarers is woefully inadequate and many small charities struggle to provide the services that their beneficiaries desperately need. In 2007, Seafarers UK had requests from charities to the value of £5 million and only had the funds to give out £3 million.
Director-General of Seafarers UK, Commodore Barry Bryant RN, said:
“This £2 million shortfall demonstrates the tremendous need that exists amongst our seafarers. Our aim is to close this funding gap over the next two years while also making people aware that our seafarers, who live with treacherous conditions at sea, also face equally rough challenges back on land. As the 2007 report, Supporting Seafarers and their Families: Challenges for the Future* highlighted, seafarers need our support more than ever.”