The Seafarers' Charity (Seafarers UK, formerly King George's Fund for Sailors) is the leading grant-making charity that was established in 1917 as The King George’s Fund for Sailors, to support the families of seafarers lost at sea during World War One, The Seafarers' Charity today supports seafarers throughout their seafaring careers and beyond. The charity supports organisations and projects that make a real difference to people's lives across the Merchant Navy, Fishing Fleets, Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
In 2023, The Seafarers' Charity awarded £2.4m in grants to support 50 maritime welfare charities.
The First World War took a terrible toll on merchantmen and warships: in one fortnight in 1917 many thousands of sailors and over 400,000 tons of shipping were lost. Many of those men had a family to support, and towards the end of the war many small charitable organisations were set up to support the injured and bereaved.
In the City of London, far-sighted ship-owners and officers realised that what was most needed was an umbrella organisation that could take a realistic overview of the need and direct resources to where they were needed. They set up a Fund for that purpose and His Majesty King George V took a deep and immediate interest, giving both his name and an establishing donation of £5,000 to the new organisation.
During subsequent conflicts, and in the intervening years of peace, King George's Fund for Sailors continued to provide both immediate and long-term support to the casualties of war, and to others who have paid a high price for a life at sea.
The Charity has always supported veterans, the injured and the bereaved, but as an umbrella organisation, its focus is on the needs of the whole maritime community. In the modern world that means the charity also deals with such issues as homelessness, unemployment, the strain on separated families, the poverty and hardship that afflict shoreline communities (e.g. when fish stocks dwindle or merchant vessels grow too large for local docks).
In 2005 King George's Fund for Sailors adopted the working name Seafarers UK. This was changed in 2021 to The Seafarers' Charity, to make it clearer how the Charity supports seafarers in need and their families.[1]
Each year The Seafarers' Charity campaigns on behalf of seafarers across the Merchant Navy, Royal Navy and Fishing Fleets to raise awareness of the UK's maritime sector in its entirety – and thereby increase public understanding of the challenging lives of many seafarers.
The charity's considerable influence is also being applied elsewhere for effective campaigning. The Seafarers' Charity is a member of Maritime UK, the pan-industry promotional body, for whom The Seafarers' Charity chairs its 'Careers Promotion Forum'.
The annual The Seafarers' Charity campaign 'Fly the Red Ensign for Merchant Navy Day' launched in 2015, and takes place on Merchant Navy Day on 3 September. The campaign encourages public bodies to fly the Red Ensign, the official flag of the UK Merchant Navy, ashore atop civic buildings and on prominent flag poles to raise public awareness of the UK's dependence on seafarers past, present and future. The campaign also encourages donations and fundraising for the charity's Merchant Navy Fund.
In 2022, the campaign received more than 38 million impressions on social media and reached a total of 9.8 million accounts.
In previous years, the Red Ensign was also flown above 10 Downing Street. In 2019, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "2019 marks the centenary of King George V's grant of the title 'Merchant Navy'. I am delighted that, in honour of this milestone, the Red Ensign flag will fly above 10 Downing Street on this Merchant Navy Day."
The Seafarers' Charity receives no statutory funding and relies on supporters, donors and volunteers to be able to carry on providing the long-term aid. Annually, The Seafarers' Charity runs a number of fundraising events to raise vital funds to continue providing essential support to seafarers in need and their families.
The Seafarers' Charity works with numerous partner organisations across all its campaigning, fundraising and grant-giving work, including Marine Society & Sea Cadets, The Merchant Navy Welfare Board, Trinity House
The Seafarers' Charity's governing document is the Royal Charter, first issued in 1920 and last amended in 2010. The Royal Charter describes The Seafarers' Charity's charitable objects as:
Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1951-2022)
His Majesty King Charles III (From May 2024)
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Paul Butterworth AFNI
William Reid