The Maritime Charities Group (MCG) is commissioning a study of the estimated size and demographic profile of the UK’s Merchant Navy and fishing fleet personnel (seafarers) and their dependants, from 2019-2040. This includes both working and former seafarers. The deadline for completion of this project is 30th Sept 2024.
In particular, it helps them to understand the welfare needs, locations, challenges and changes facing seafarers and their families and informs all aspects of their work. From grant-making to service provision, this data will enable the maritime charity sector to make more informed decisions from now to 2040.
This new study is a key element of MCG’s programme for the coming year. It will update our existing datasets, building on the work we first undertook in 2007 and then updated in 2015. These studies showed that despite the fall in the number of working and former seafarers, the demand for charitable services and support was not likely to decline.
..said MCG Chair, Dr Tim Slingsby.
1. Obtain a best estimate of the size and key demographics of the UK’s seafarers.
2. Provide a projected best estimate of these demographics to 2040.
3. Provide a profile of the current support needs of seafarers, and how you anticipate these changing to 2040. Where possible, we would like this to include specific reference to the impact of the pandemic.
4. Identify recommendations for the provision of future support for seafarers.
Furthermore, the new MCG study will focus on the UK’s Merchant Navy and fishing fleet and their dependants and will include both working and former seafarers. A comparable study is being carried out with the UK’s Royal Navy and Royal Marines communities by MCG members Greenwich Hospital and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, in partnership with the RAF Benevolent Fund. Together these two pieces of work will provide the sector with the data it needs to plan future services.
Reflecting on the value of past research, MCG member Vikki Muir, Head of Charitable Giving at Trinity House, said: “As with any charity that wants to be as effective as possible with the resources to hand, Trinity House depends on a robust, up-to-date and detailed understanding of the needs of its sector. Site visits with beneficiaries provide an invaluable connection on the ground, but we also need high-level data to help make decisions about how we manage our giving in a sector that changes and demands adaptability. We look forward to the new MCG study and the insights it will yield.”
Without seafarers, the world grinds to a halt. That’s why this new research project is so important. The maritime sector, like many, is still recovering from the devastation caused by the pandemic, the Russian/Ukrainian conflict and the P&O Ferries crisis. These results will help shape the future and ensure the industry meets seafarers’ demands to improve their lives.
..said Sharon Coveney, Deputy Chief Executive of the Merchant Navy Welfare Board, the umbrella charity for the UK Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and also an MCG member.
