SEAFARERS UK FISHERS FUND

Seafarers UK Fishers Fund – £500,000 from Seafarers UK for Fishers Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on merchant seafarers, fishers and their families, the Seafarers UK charity has created a new Seafarers UK COVID-19 Emergency Fund of £2million, with £500,000 immediately allocated to assist fishing communities across Britain.

Included in the grants that have been awarded to charity partners providing advice and support arising from the widespread impacts of the coronavirus are:

• £250,000 to provide match funding with The Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust for innovative projects to support fish and seafood businesses, benefiting the fish-catching sector. The COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Programme guidelines are at http://fishonfriday.org.uk/covid-19-rapid-response-grant-programme-grant-guidelines/
• £200,000 to The Fishermen’s Mission to provide hardship welfare grants to fishers and their families, based on requests received via the Mission’s frontline staff – see https://www.fishermensmission.org.uk/covid-19-helping-us-help-you/
• £50,000 reserved for organisations working with fishers around the UK.

Seafarers UK Chairman Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson CB CVO BA said: ‘The trustees of Seafarers UK have released new funds to help fishers recover from the widespread impact on their wellbeing and livelihoods as a result of the coronavirus. We are working with our charity partners to provide both hardship funding and innovative new projects to support our fishing communities through and beyond the current crisis. Our long history of helping those who work at sea enables us to target effective and meaningful support to where it is most needed.’

David Dickens CBE, Chief Executive Officer of The Fishermen’s Mission said: ‘This rapid and substantial financial assistance from Seafarers UK for our hard-pressed fishing communities is most welcome. I am most grateful for the generous grant to The Fishermen’s Mission that will help us sustain our support to fishermen and their families at this difficult time. Importantly, the overall commitment here is not only to addressing short term welfare needs, but also to assisting fishing communities recover as they emerge from the current crisis. I am confident that this engagement with a broad spectrum of issues and partners across the fishing endeavour should deliver positive outcomes.’

Seafarers UK’s Chief Executive Officer, Catherine Spencer said: ‘We are feeling very motivated by the scale of this Emergency Fund. It will provide hardship support through our long term charity partners, and our new work with The Fishmongers’ Company, which demonstrates our cause approach to helping fishers. We’re supporting welfare and providing hardship grants, but also tackling the underlying causes of financial difficulty. We will help fishers keep fishing by creating new online routes to consumers. We are supporting fishers during the collapse of hospitality and export sales to create new supply chains to a previously untapped domestic market in the UK that we hope will endure beyond the COVID-19 crisis. Our ambition is for fishers to receive fair value for their fish while bringing wholesome food and a reasonable price to consumers too.’

Grants from Seafarers UK are offered to charities and other organisations providing services to fishers and their families. Applications should be made via email to grants@seafarers.uk. Guidance to applicants is available at www.seafarers.uk or phone 020 7932 0000. www.seafarers.uk

Individual fishers seeking support should contact SAIL, a dedicated free Citizens Advice facility that receives an annual grant from Seafarers UK. SAIL (Seafarers’ Advice and Information Line), phone 0800 160 1842, email advice@sailine.org.uk, website http://sailine.org.uk/

Photo: Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson CB CVO BA, Chairman, Seafarers UK

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