Sailors' Society

Who we are

CHARITY BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW

Sailors’ Society is a maritime welfare charity that meets the practical, emotional and spiritual needs of seafarers and their families in ports and seafaring communities all around the world.

With their roots in the post Napoleonic war era when thousands of sailors returned to London destitute, Sailors’ Society has helped seafarers in need for over two hundred years.

Sailors’ Society has always been a leading provider of maritime welfare, constantly revising its programme to meet the demands of a fast changing industry.

In the last 30 years the shipping industry has further increased pace, reducing the time a ship and her crew spend in port and therefore the contact a seafarer might have with the world beyond their vessel.

The average crew member now spends 9 months at sea, often more, and it’s the place of maritime welfare charities such as Sailors’ Society to help them whilst they are away from home and family.

Sailors’ Society is responding to these changes with a robust programme of services to seafarers ‘At Home, In Port and At Sea’.