Supporting UK Merchant Navy seafarers and their families
Our impact
Thanks to our supporters, since the establishment of the Merchant Navy Fund in 2012, we raised £720,000 in donations and awarded over £700,000 to support UK serving or retired MN seafarers in need and their families.
In 2021, the Fund awarded £58,300 to five organisations:
- £20,000 to Age UK for The Silver Line to ensure the continued provision of the much-needed telephone friendship group, which connects older seafarers via regular, supervised conference calls.
- £15,000 to Shipwrecked Mariners Society to support the provision of an increasing request of emergency grants following the COVID-19 pandemic, for Merchant Navy seafarers and their dependants in real poverty.
- £15,000 to Sailors' Children's Society to support children and young people from Merchant Navy families on low incomes to help with essentials such as school uniforms, winter clothes, educational equipment and more.
- £7,000 to Not Forgotten Association to provide support to 300 former Merchant Navy personnel through recreational and entertainment events and activities to help prevent loneliness and isolation.
- £1,300 to Falklands Veterans Association to enable a Merchant Navy veteran’s granddaughter to accompany her disabled mother during a visit to the Falkland Islands grave of her Father who was killed in action during the Falkland Islands conflict.
'Over a decade, the Fund has raised nearly three quarters of a million pounds which has been used in a variety of ways to boost the health and wellbeing of both serving and retired seafarers' ~ Stuart Rivers, Chief Executive of the MNWB
'Sometimes I just feel like having a chat and there’s no one I can phone. Now I’ve got The Silver Line, I’ve got a whole lot of new friends and have had some lovely conversations.'
Vera, The Silver Line member, thanks to the funding from the Merchant Navy Fund
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Ways to donate
We receive no government funding, so your support is vital to the Merchant Navy seafarers and their families at times of need.
Learn moreHow we can help you
The Merchant Navy Fund does not give grants to individuals, but we work with organisations who may be able to help you.
Learn more