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New Sea Change Fund to provide grants for seafarers in crisis

Maritime charity Sailors’ Society has launched a new fund to provide urgent welfare grants for seafarers and their families in desperate need.

The Sea Change Fund has been set up in response to a huge increase in calls for the charity’s help, with demand for grants increasing by 850% in the first 18 months of the pandemic.

The fund will provide small emergency payments to seafarers and their dependents matching the grant criteria, to help address immediate needs.

Sara Baade, Sailors’ Society’s CEO said: “Calls for support have never been greater than now. We launched our Sea Change Fund to help answer these cries, so seafarers and their families who need urgent financial assistance to pay for food, medical bills, schooling or a roof over their heads can get support quickly.”

Sickness, unemployment and bereavement have left rising numbers of seafaring families, who are often from deprived areas of the world to start with, struggling to put food on the table.

Grants are made via application and can assist with a range of pressing welfare needs, including help with vital bills like food and medicine, education costs, or in emergency situations such as natural disaster or cases of abandonment.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

Comments

  1. I don’t know who they are, but beggars can’t be choosers in the face of such overwhelming and unmitigated suffering and deprivation amongst seafarers. Government policy is always better than charity, but in the absence of anything better forthcoming from the world shipping community, l take my hat off to them. Let us see how they run in a few months time.

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