Met Office

 

We rely on seafarers to transport over 90% of the things we take for granted, including food, fuel and medicines; to catch our fish and protect our shores.

 

Every day, seafarers are exposed to the hazards of a life at sea: dangerous physical labour, harsh weather, antisocial hours, no guarantee of a stable income, and months of being away from their families.

 

We work closely with a number of delivery partners that support seafarers and their families, targeting donations where they will make the biggest difference.

This is a typical initiative that The Charity gets involved in. Fishing is a macho industry but can be intensely lonely.

 

Many boats have just one crew and struggle to make a profit.  Add to that bad weather and winter hours and depression soon sets in.

 

Having suffered depression myself I know that just talking to a professional therapist can give enormous support.

I was lucky enough to meet The Fishermen’s Mission team at Troon Harbour, which is one of the organisations the charity supports.

 

Paula and Karen and their team provide 24/7 comfort for fishermen and visiting crew right in the centre of Troon harbour.

 

 

It is difficult to imagine, but some of the foreign crew still live on the fishing boats in very basic conditions, sailing in all weathers and only earning money if they are successful in catching fish.

 

The mission team are always there to give them home comforts as well as helping them with basic things like banking, medical and dentistry support as well as acting as a citizen’s advice team. Fishing is still a very tough industry.

Shaun McGuire is the Harbour Master of the Isle of Whithorn in south east Scotland.  He is also the chairman of the Galloway Static Gear Fishermen’s Association (Lobsters and Whelks)

The Seafarers’ Charity paid for 44 life jackets and 44 Personal Locator Beacons for all the members of the Association.

This is typical practical example of what the charity’s money is spent on.

The Seafarers’ give a lot of support to all the different missions (Fishermen’s, Seafarers, Shipwrecked Mariners, Deep Sea Fishermen, Apostleship of The Sea).

John and Laura from Seafarers’ Scotland came to visit Good Dog in Troon to see what I was up to…it was lovely to meet them.

We also met Stewart (with the life ring) who is a retired fisherman of 40 years.

He told us how tough the life at sea is……he was washed over board three times! Now he makes beautiful models and decorated life rings to raise money for the mission.