We are pleased to feature the headline sponsor of Ladies Lunch The Seafarers’ Charity. The Seafarers’ Charity has been funding the work of Sailors’ Children’s Society for over 100 years. We are grateful that they are supporting the inaugural Ladies Lunch and are doing so to help SCS scale up our calendar of fundraising events.

The Seafarers’ Charity is the largest independent funder of maritime welfare charities. Our vision is to create ‘a world where seafarers and their families are valued and free of need and disadvantage’. Started as the King George’s Fund for Sailors (KGFS), we’ve been improving the lives of seafarers and their families for over 106 years. Conceived by far-sighted ship owners and officers, and championed by King George V, the KGFS is a key strand of our DNA and something of which we’re very proud.

Today, we’re evolving guided by the same powerful vision. Through our grant giving, we’re bringing about truly life-changing impact for many who work – or have worked – at sea, and their families. Every year, we award more than £2m to enable charitable support for seafarers and their families. Our funding covers everything from essential information and advice, friendly ship visitors in port and hardship grants, to well-being and mental health support, trauma counselling, crisis response and peer support networks, safety training, as well as retirement accommodation. We reduce hardships experienced by seafarers by enabling environments where, instead, they can thrive, supporting their practical and welfare needs at home, in port and at sea, often far from home. We also enable them to connect with loved ones – and to find comfort and companionship in retirement.

But, for us, such interventions are not enough – however valuable. That’s why we’re also now increasingly proactive in understanding and tackling the root causes of seafarer disadvantage in the UK and internationally. We’re moving towards identifying and targeting the systemic problems that lead to adversity in the first place. We’re aiming to get to the heart of issues earlier to achieve longer-term success through outcomes-focused funding collaboration, research, and advocacy – which in turn will amplify the impact of our grant awards

Deborah Layde the CEO of the charity told us “We have long supported Sailors’ Children’s Society in their vital work; our first grant to SCS was in 1918! Their support of seafaring families in need is still just as relevant. The Hull community’s historic, practical and financial support has been generously given for many, many years – the Ladies’ Lunch is a natural next step from the Sportsmen’s Lunch.”