The Marine Society

For information about our financial support for UK-domiciled
professional seafarers please visit Financial Assistance for Seafarers
See also Continuing Professional Development for seafarers.

In March 1944, some three months before D-Day, the Marine Society was continuing in its task of preparing young boys for a sea-going career, training made all the more vital given the state of war that prevailed and had since 1939.

And it was then that young Jeffrey Hugh Carter, having spent time on the training ship, Warspite, received a letter from the then Secretary, Captain Lenny, congratulating him on having been selected for entry as a Midshipman with the Blue Funnel Line, and offering a grant – in addition to the scholarship he had already won – to pay for his uniform. In keeping with the formality of the era, the letter was addressed: “Dear Carter” and from our records it would appear that he was the only recipient of monies from the Professor Liversidge Fund that year.

Jeffrey Carter went on to become a naval architect, with Swan Hunter, Lloyds and P&O, but he evidently never forgot the assistance he received from the Society in his early years, as on his death in 2006, not only did he bequeath £500, which has been put towards the appeal for our new training ship, but his family discovered that he had kept his letter from Captain Lenny for more than sixty years.

Inflation being what it is, the amounts loaned and awarded in grants are a good deal higher than in the 1940s, but the assistance still continues. At the moment, there are some eighty seafarers repaying loans, with £46,000 having been granted to twenty seafarers in the past financial year, and a further thirteen able to engage in study to further their careers as recipients of a Worcester Scholarship during this year. These were set up in 1991 with proceeds from the sale of artefacts from HMS Worcester when the training college was closed.

Another aspect of the support offered is the John William Slater Fund, which is administered by Nautilus International in association with The Marine Society.

This was inaugurated in 1977 in memory of Mr Slater, former General Secretary of the MNAOA, and over the past 10 years the value of the fund has increased from £2500 to its present level of £15,000. It can be used for funding the necessary courses and for help with accommodation, travel, textbooks and living expenses whilst undertaking their courses. The money is available for four years from the date of the award and is available to ratings over 20 years old permanently resident in the UK, specifically to fund their OOW qualification.

One recipient of the Slater award, who is now undertaking his next certificate – with a loan of £3600 - is Mike Bower (pictured). He was awarded £5000 in 2003, which was augmented by a further £2500 in late 2004. It was around this time that it became apparent to the Slater Trustees that being off-pay, whilst still having to fund accommodation and course expenses, meant that the award would need to be substantially increased to allow students to achieve their qualification. Mike passed his OOW certificate and was working for Vector Offshore – his current company - when he approached us for further financial assistance. Whilst he was getting some support from his employers, living in Northern Ireland he needed help with the costs of accommodation and course materials whilst studying at South Tyneside for his Chief Mates, and The Marine Society has been able to provide a loan of £3600, which is repayable over a period of two years, starting 4 months after the course finishes.

As an added incentive to complete his qualification, the loan will be ‘converted’ into a Worcester scholarship once he passes and hopefully in time he will achieve his goal of becoming a ship’s Master.

Another Slater story is that of Lynn Funnell (left). Now 30, she spent her childhood in a fishing town, with a family who worked on boats out of Fleetwood. After passing 11 GCSEs, she spent time on various vessels before doing a BTEC in Marine Engineering, leaving the sea in 1998 to have a son. After a few years ashore, she did a season as an EDH on Condor Ferries, obtaining her AB’s certificate in 2003 and rising to relief bosun by 2005. She applied for the Slater scholarship in 2006, and was awarded £10,000 in March 2007. A few months later, she took the decision to move her whole family to Lancashire from Weymouth, in order to pursue her goal of becoming a Chief Officer, studying at Blackpool & the Fylde College. More than halfway through the course now, Lynn is on track to complete the OOW course in a few months, and her single-mindedness – and the support of her family – will doubtless see her succeed.

Awards and loans are a small part of the work we do to improve the lot of seafarers, as important today as it was to Jeffrey Carter in 1944 – and countless others during the past 253 years.

For information about our financial support for professional seafarers go to Financial assistance for seafarers