On Wednesday 6th June 2018 I attended an anniversary reception held at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.  The invite came from Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth, and was for a special reception to mark 200 years of the Sailors’ Society. I was joined by Loss Prevention Director, Stuart Edmonston, also a fellow Sailors’ Society Ambassador.

The reception was attended by a number of the Sailors’ Society staff, their CEO Stuart Rivers, and some of the society’s trustees along with fellow supporters from the shipping industry.  We were warmly welcomed at the venue by Stephen Morgan MP who gave a speech about the Society and their importance in the industry. 

We were also shown a short video detailing the growth of the charity over 200 years. Since it’s formation many years ago, within a floating chapel on the Thames, right through to the activities of the present day.  Within the video seafarers and their families shared their own stories about how they have been cared for by the Sailors’ Society chaplains and even reunited with their families following the intervention of Sailors’ Society.

Furthermore we heard a personal account from a lady whose family had been affected by the Herald of Free Enterprise incident in 1987.  Clearly the work of the Sailors’ Society had been a huge support to her family at such a tragic, and deeply public, time of loss.  In fact to this day support for those affected families continues and a memorial service is held every year at the anniversary of the incident. 

As a Sailors’ Society Global Ambassador I am proud to be linked to the Sailors’ Society.  A charity which has a established history of support for seafarers and families, both at home and abroad, at sea and in port.  The Crew Health team also support the Sailors’ Society education programme Wellness at Sea which works to equip seafarers with the necessary skills to prepare for life at sea. Wellness at Sea was set up in 2015 and since the start of the Programme we have sponsored the “Emotional Wellness” module which aims to maintain and improve crew mental health.

Throughout this 200 year anniversary further events will be held to commemorate the numerous projects and work of the charity. If you would like to get involved through a sponsored event, volunteering or even just purchasing an item from the Sailors’ Society shop please use the links below to access more information.

https://www.sailors-society.org/get-involved/events/

https://www.sailors-society.org/get-involved/volunteer/

https://www.sailors-society.org/sailors-shop/

You can watch the video which was shown on the day via the following link on the Sailors’ Society webpage. 

https://www.sailors-society.org/about-us/our-history/

Additionally to mark this amazing anniversary Sailors’ Society have produced a commemorative book called “200 Stories from the Sea”  which is available to buy online. 

https://200stories.org/