Lloyd’s Register (LR) has donated £20,000 to Sailors’ Society’s Emergency Welfare Fund which provides financial relief to seafarers and their families in dire need.
Every year, maritime charity Sailors’ Society is inundated with requests for support from seafarers with diverse and pressing welfare needs. This is the seventh year running that LR has donated to the fund, bringing its total contribution to more than £140,000.
The fund has helped thousands of seafarers and their families over the years, such as Mati, 10, the son of a seafarer from Poland, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was three. The tumor cost him the use of the left side of his body and Mati needed a new wheelchair. Sailors' Society was able to contribute $1,744 (US) from the Emergency Welfare Fund towards the cost of this vital equipment and give Mati a new lease of life.
Nick Brown, LR’s Marine & Offshore Director, commented: “The industry is currently abuzz with talk of digitalization and automation and how technology will impact the business of shipping. It is now more important than ever that we don't forget those who are very much still at the frontline of our industry. Their roles may be evolving but we still rely on the 1.6 million seafarers to keep our industry moving. Innovation and technology should make their jobs safer, easier and more efficient but it shouldn't make them more invisible. The work that charities like Sailors' Society do is invaluable and we at LR are delighted that we can provide our continued support.”
In addition to donating to the Emergency Welfare Fund, LR has been supporting Sailors’ Society’s work since 1993, raising more than £237k for the charity.
Through their 24-year partnership, support has come in a variety of forms and from across the organization’s 12 global offices, ranging from participation in challenge events, hosting fundraising dinners and sponsorship of Sailors’ Society’s Woolly Hat Week. Several LR staff members sit on Sailors’ Society regional Ambassador groups, lending their support and expertise to further the charity’s aims.
Claire Heath, Sailors’ Society’s senior partnerships manager, said, “LR’s contribution has had an extraordinary impact on individual seafarers, offering many a lifeline in their most hopeless moments. We are grateful that LR sees the importance of continuing to fund our work supporting seafarers, even in these tough economic times.”
LR and Sailors’ Society are supporting Seafarers Awareness Week, June 24-30, which this year is focusing on promoting U.K. maritime employment opportunities, including shore-based jobs.
