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Public engagement manager, Chris Tuck, shares his thoughts on a recent ship-visiting trip to Tilbury with chaplain Frans Sahetapy:

We had two ships to visit – the fi rst a colossal four-month-old container ship. An initially cool reception from the crew had us scuttling to the galley, where we found a cheery Filipino cook who was excited to receive visitors, the fi rst new faces he had seen in months. He had dreams of running his own restaurant back home, so he would not miss three-quarters of his children’s lives each year by being at sea.

Back on the bridge, and buoyed by the Christmas presents we had taken on board, the crew had perked up enough to share their hopes and dreams. Sergei, from Odessa, has twin bab ies ; away for fi ve months, he found it hard to be parted from them.

Our second ship was a much smaller vessel in the grain terminal. The Indian crew were desperate to contact home and Frans helped them with phone cards and internet hotspots.

After chatting about the cricket and the latest news, we were invited to take lunch in the galley.

We talked with a Christian seafarer who want ed to show us his well-leafed Bible and tell us about his church at home.

Finally, Frans explained the ins and outs of a trip to London. The crew were excited and – having never been to the UK's capital city before – had many questions .

Calmly, Frans answered their que ries and, an hour later, four excited Indian seafarers were dropped at a station and headed to London , with big smiles on their faces and feeling very blessed.

ShIP vISITIng In TILbUrYOne morning, two ships and many blessings

hello – and welcome to the spring newsletter. My name is Melanie Warman and I am Sailors’ Society’s new director of media and advocacy. Although I have only been here a short time, it’s clear that I have joined a talented team of people who are all passionate about what they are doing; it’s a great privilege to be here.

I have spent my whole career working in – and with – the media, mostly as a journalist for newspapers and television, but later in public relations. I am excited to be putting all that experience to good use in helping the charity to grow and reach out to even more seafarers across the world.

As we set our sights towards Sailors' Society's 200th anniversary in 2018, it is a very exciting time to be part of this story. I hope you will be part of it too, celebrating our history and looking forward to our future.

Seafarers had huge smiles thanks to a local port chaplain

cHuRcH & community nEWSLEttER

Sailors’ Society is an international maritime charity that provides practical, emotional and spiritual help for merchant seafarers at home, in port and at sea.

With a presence in 69 global ports and 26 countries, we aim to transform the lives of seafarers and their families all over the world.

Sailors' Society's chris tuck boards a ship on his visit to tilbury

SAILORS' SOCIETYSuPPoRtER

MEET THE TEAM

SPRinG 2016

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SCOTLAND

IRELAND

ENGLANDWALES

NORTHERNIRELAND

www.sailors-society.orgcommunity SuPPoRtER FocuS

Where We’ve been

LeIThhead of programme support and executive relations Ann brogan and Chris attended the Annual Scottish Service for Seafarers at South Leith Parish Church and laid a wreath at the Merchant navy memorial service. Meeting the Lord Provost of edinburgh was a highlight.

brISTOLThe public engagement team joined Stephen Loader, our chaplain for Portbury and Avonmouth. It was a blustery day, but Stephen’s enthusiasm was boundless.

SOUThAMPTOnrev bill McCrea and rev Mark Warner are hugely experienced in serving seafarers, and visit ships in Southampton together every week. Ship visiting with bill and Mark is always a learning experience, and bill often treats the seafarers to When the Saints Go Marching In on his harmonica!

LeITh

MOnTrOSe

brISTOL

SOUThAMPTOn

TILbUrY

MOnTrOSePeter Donald, our port chaplain in Montrose, provided a beautiful autumnal day for Chris’s visit. Montrose glistened in the sunshine and Peter took some of that brightness with him when he visited ships, some of which were laid up for weeks while awaiting their next contract.

Church partnership scheme We have launched our new and innovative Church Connect partnership scheme, and are keen to connect with every church that has an interest in the transformational work of Sailors’ Society. To achieve this, we need you! To express an interest, contact us on:

n Twitter @SailorsChurches n Email churches@sailors-

society.org or n Call Chris 023 8051 5953

The scheme is designed to be an informal connection that allows us to share in prayer and on social media – and, mainly, to make friends!

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Mike Chittenden

www.sailors-society.org COMMUNITY SUPPORTER FOCUS

VOLUNTEER PROFILE

How long have you been volunteering?About seven years.

Wh at do you do?I am a ship visitor in Portland.

How did you fi rst get involved?I was friends with the Society’s previous principal chaplain, David Potterton, and he suggested that I might be suitable and enjoy ship visiting.

Why Sailors’ Society?I was in the Royal Navy, so ship visiting allowed me to keep a link to the sea. I wanted to be able to relate to seafarers on a more direct basis. As an ex-seafarer, I have empathy with them.

What do you enjoy most?Visiting the ships and providing pastoral support. I have given help to seafarers who are in need and in distress. I have helped when their families have had diffi culties back at home, like

when Typhoon Haiyan hit. My responsibilities have also included offi ciating a burial at sea and giving comfort to crews that have lost colleagues to suicide. It is the pastoral support that I love to give to seafarers most.

DREW WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARDSailors’ Society’s auxiliary port chaplain in Invergordon, Drew Anderson, has been awarded the Merchant Navy Welfare Board’s (MNWB's) Annual Award for Services to Seafarers’ Welfare.

The award recognises his many years of exceptional support and service to seafarers visiting the Highlands port.

Drew was heavily involved in getting the local community to help the crew of the MV Nicola, who spent 19 uncertain weeks in  the Scottish town after the vessel was abandoned by the parent company.

He will be presented with his a ccolade by Captain David Parsons MNM MNI, chief executive of the M N W B , during a ceremony in Invergordon on 10 May.

‘It is a great honour to be given such a prestigious award by the Merchant Navy Welfare Board,' Drew said.

'I accept it on behalf of our team of volunteers who give up their time to welcome, care for and visit seafarers from ships berthed in the Cromarty Firth.’

Drew and seafarers in Invergordon

We are delighted to have recently become members of Global Connections and the Southampton Christian Network (SCN). Global Connections is a growing network of churches and charities across the UK, while SCN is a great link for churches in and around the city of Southampton. Huge thanks also to the generous members of the Women in Business Network, at Southampton City, for giving lovely gifts to seafarers this Christmas.

NETWORKS

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www.sailors-society.org community supporter focus

IntroducIng James

Huge thanks to The Freaky Wave for this comical cartoon. We also want to thank our knitters for all the hats you made over winter and especially for Woolly Hat Week – keep them coming!

If you would like the chance to win the original of this cartoon, simply answer the following question:

Which church held the annual scottish service for seafarers?

Email your answer to community@sailors-society.org by 1 May to be in with a chance of winning!

Sea Sunday 10 July Request your free resource pack todayEvery year, we provide a free church service resource pack, full of materials that can be tailored to your service. To request a pack visit sailors-society.org/seasunday, email seasunday@sailors-society.org or call 02380 515950. You can hold your service on any Sunday of the year if the official date is inconvenient. Thank you for joining with us to remember seafarers worldwide.

Thank you, St Mary’s ChurchSpecial thanks go to St Mary’s Church, in Burton Bradstock, which nominated Sailors’ Society as its charity of the year for 2015 and raised £1,251.95 through knit-and-natter mornings, cake sales, Sea Sunday collections and a fun mission event that included sea shanties and singing nautical hymn Eternal Father.

Sailors’ Society ministers to seafarers and their families regardless of their faith, gender or race. We recently had the privilege of interviewing a cadet called James, a Christian seafarer based in Southampton. The discussion provided a fascinating insight into the life of a British seafarer – different perhaps from the experiences of a Filipino chief steward, but still very real, and sometimes very hard.

James hails from Leicester, and his interests include politics, tennis and going to the cinema every week when he is home. After his A levels and a gap year, James started a three-year course at Warsash Maritime Academy in September 2013. His family is in Leicester and he has a girlfriend in Southampton.

Over the coming months, we will be revealing the ups and downs of his times at sea and at home, including:

■ Putting on a brave face when sailing through piracy hotspots

■ Missing a family wedding■ Loneliness felt when joining a ship ■ Difficulties in finding a church when in port■ Spending 12 hours in a force-11 storm■ Visa issues, poor Wi-Fi… and fried rice for breakfast!

The team at Sailors’ Society is committed to praying for James – will you do so too? Visit our website to read our blog, follow our Twitter account and see future editions of this newsletter to find out more about James.

stay connected with us… Sailors’ Society, Seafarer House, 74 St Annes Road, Southampton, SO19 9FF

023 8051 5950 www.sailors-society.org /sailorssociety

The public engagement team would love to hear from you and stay in touch. You can keep up with Chris, Mark and Hannah via: @sailorschurches, @HannahW_sailors, @sailorsocspkr or via churches@sailors-society.org and community@sailors-society.org

We keep our Twitter pages up to date with news, events and encouragements, and hope you will continue to join with us in transforming the lives of seafarers around the world. Thank you for all you do.

Registered charity in England and Wales number: 237778 Registered company number: 86942

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