Providing Emergency Support and Practical Care to Fishermen and their Families

 

The Fishermen’s Mission

The Fishermen’s Mission fights poverty and despair in our fishing communities by providing emergency and welfare support to fishermen and their families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Over 13,000 men and women work in the UK’s toughest and most dangerous peacetime occupation: deep sea fishing. At sea, they face death and injury on a daily basis. On land, many face insecurity and debt. And life for the 50,000 retired fishermen and their dependants is no better, with debt, inadequate pensions and scant savings meaning no respite from hardship once the fishing’s over.

  

Emergency
Fishing remains the most dangerous peacetime occupation in the United Kingdom. Every year boats are sunk and lives are lost. Day or night the fishermen’s mission respond to calls to help fishermen who have been rescued at sea, involved in an accident or taken ill while fishing. Often this means waiting at night for the boat to come in and staying with the fishermen in hospital until family arrives or he can be taken home. Sometimes, if the boat is lost, it means urgently finding warm, dry clothes, having a hot drink and providing the security of a warm bed for the night and help to deal with shock. The fishermen’s mission will always respond to a call for help from their fishermen. They are always there when they are needed most.

Sea Safety Inshore and deep sea commercial fishing remains the UK’s most dangerous peacetime occupation. Fishermen are 115 times more likely to suffer a fatal accident than the rest of the workforce.

Safe Fishing: One of the most important areas of the fishermen’s mission work in recent years has been to promote safe fishing to fishermen. Fishing is the most dangerous occupation. The sea can be frightening and unpredictable. In the past inflatable oilskins and lifejackets have been too cumbersome to wear while working. Newly designed Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) are specifically designed not to get in the way of fishing.

Young Irish fishermen, Sam Cully, received one of the new PFD’s. He says ‘The Fishermen’s Mission saved my life when they provided me with a PFD. A few weeks later my boat went down and I was on my own. I was in the water for some time before I was rescued. Without my PFD I would have died’.

Welfare
Compassionate Welfare: The Fishermen’s Mission is the only national charity that works solely with fishermen and their families. They understand fishing, the needs of fishermen and the up and downs of a fishing community. They know that many fishing families have lost one of their own to the sea. They understand their grief and their pain.

A widow writes ‘The Fishermen’s Mission was my lifeline. They stayed with me all the way. They arranged for financial support, helped me with forms and letters. They stayed with me for hours, listening to me talk, helping me through’.

If the worse happens it may mean supporting the family through the days, weeks, month and years ahead. Offering a shoulder to cry on, practical and financial help and a friendship built on trust that can last years.

Practical Support
The Fishermen’s Mission is able to offer the most immediate and practical of support to those who find themselves in need of their help. The Fishermen’s Mission can:

Provide immediate financial assistance to help with rent, food, heating and lighting bills. Keeping house and home together.

Respond to an emergency call for help, day or night, 365 days a year. Responding to injured, sick or shipwrecked fishermen. Call the Fishermen’s Mission and they will be there.

Offer emotional support during bereavement, family breakdown or emotional difficulties. The Fishermen’s Mission is a shoulder to cry on and a friend to trust.

Help to prevent poverty amongst retired fishermen and their families. Offering expert guidance through the benefit system and sourcing long term grants.

If you’d like to learn more about The Fishermen’s Mission welfare and emergency work, visit The Fishermen’s Mission website: www.fishermensmission.org.uk

The Fishermen’s Mission takes care of the families of men lost at sea. They need your help if they are to continue to offer bereaved families the financial and emotional support they need.

The Fishermen’s Mission is a Registered Charity:

England & Wales No 232822 and Scotland No SC039088