Thanks to your overwhelming generosity we have been able to support seafarers and their families affected by the continuing crisis in Ukraine.
LATEST UPDATE:
Our Ukraine Crisis Grant Fund is currently closed.
We have awarded all of the crisis grants currently available and so our fund has been paused for now.
We cannot accept any more applications at the moment.
If you are in need of advice or assistance please call our helpline team on +1-938-8181 or instant chat via sailors-society.org/helpline
Please check back here for updates in the event the fund reopens.
Our chaplains are there for Ukrainian seafarers across the world every day. Many thousands of miles from families, they are anxious and desperate, utterly powerless to help, and turning to us for support.
Some are terrified for the fate of those sheltering back home; others are frightened to return to their country as they don't want to fight. In ports across the globe, we have been helping seafarers touched in many different ways by the crisis in Ukraine. We listen and comfort, offer mental health support and provide WiFi units so they can call loved ones.
At the same time, we pray for our colleagues; our chaplains in Ukraine caught up in the chaos, sheltering families and driving them to the safety of the border.
Seafarers already have one of the toughest jobs, away from parents, partners and children for months at a time and facing dangers like violent storms, accidents and piracy. Now, for many, life at sea is even tougher.
Our support will be needed more every day. In the weeks and months to come, seafarers will need more care through our helpline and Crisis Response Network and seafaring families will need grants to pay for food, transport, medicine or shelter.
Your incredible response to our Ukraine Appeal means we can:
Provide additional financial support to our team on the ground in Ukraine.
Money has been sent to our chaplains to pay for fuel to ferry families to the border, as well as to help with food, accommodation and clothing as they too fled their homes with only a few belongings. Unable to visit ships in port, they now help shelter the young and the old and drive back and forth to the border, each time knowing a few more people are safe.
Provide emergency grants for Ukrainian seafarers and their families.
Seafarers like Oleg who lost everything when the apartment he shared with his wife and two-year-old daughter was shelled. In an instant they had no home, food, clothing or money - and turned to us for help. Thanks to your generosity we seek to approve grant applications in a day or two, getting help to those in desperate need as quickly as possible.
Offer new peer-to-peer support groups for Ukrainian and Russian seafarers.
The confidential groups have trained moderators and give seafarers space to talk with others in their own language, who understand what they are going through.
Keep families and friends in touch.
In ports around the world, our chaplains have been distributing SIM cards to allow anxious seafarers to call loved ones back home.
We are delighted to have reached the £100,000 target set for our Ukraine Crisis Appeal, but over the weeks and months to come we will continue to stand with all seafarers and their families who need our help, as we have done for more than 200 years. We will respond to all crises, big and small, wherever they occur.
Moving forward, we are encouraging supporters who want to make a difference to seafarers affected by the conflict to give to our general fund.
Because of the way we work – responding to crises wherever and whenever they arise, supporting seafarers of all nationalities in more than 30 ports around the globe - giving to our general fund, with a regular monthly gift if you can, is the best way to ensure we can be there through our chaplains, our helpline, our wellness programme, our crisis response network and our grants whenever they need us, today and tomorrow.
Sergey is one of our chaplains working in Ukraine.
“My wife and I are very grateful that in such a difficult period of our life there are such kind people as Sergey and Sailors' Society that help seafarers in difficult situations. This financial assistance is simply invaluable for our family. Thank you very much. It means a lot to us.”
Ukrainian seafarer Artem
“We would like to thank you for all the good work you are doing, and have done for more than two centuries, in supporting our seafarers globally. We are deeply concerned by the current devastating scenes witnessed in Ukraine and are very glad to be able to donate to your Ukrainian appeal to help support seafarers affected by this crisis."
Ståle Hansen, President and CEO, Skuld - marine insurer
“These are incredible emotions, when you understand that you are not indifferent to unfamiliar people, thank you so much. You assisted not only to me, but also my family. War deprived everything from us. I and my family pray not only for us, but also for such people as you who help us all in a difficult moment.”
Ukrainian seafarer Oleg
Industry support
We are also extremely grateful for the contributions we have received from our industry partners, including incredibly generous donations from Skuld and G2 Ocean. These gifts will go a long way in supporting distraught seafarers through this crisis.
If you would like to talk about making a donation towards our work on behalf of your company, please click here to contact to our partnerships team.
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