What we do

Our Vision

The Fishermen’s Mission aims to alleviate poverty and despair in the UK’s 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. We are the fishermen’s charity.

The Fishing Industry

Around 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.

What we do

The Mission plays an active role in alleviating poverty and despair by:

• providing emergency assistance to injured and shipwrecked fishermen
• offering financial, practical and emotional support, including bereavement counselling to the families of fishermen lost at sea
• providing a wide range of welfare services to active fishermen and their families, including home from home facilities in our Centres, debt counselling and help with medical care
• alleviating poverty amongst the elderly and infirm by identifying those in need, obtaining financial assistance and providing debt counselling and other forms of support
• combating loneliness amongst the elderly through a programme of home visits and group activities
• encouraging safety-consciousness amongst active fishermen, facilitating safety training and providing personal safety equipment.

How we do it

We aim to meet all emergency and welfare needs as they arise. Consequently we are developing a network of staff and volunteers to effectively cover coastal areas. The present structure includes seven Mission Centres in ports where there remain sizeable fishing fleets. These Centres provide facilities from internet access to showers. Eight ports such as Grimsby and Hull, where the majority of the 50,000 retired fishermen and their dependants live, have Welfare Offices dealing with the plethora of social problems that remained after the industry collapsed. We also have two Area Officers and seven Auxiliary (part-time) Superintendents covering areas where there is significant but scattered fishing, i.e. the South Coast of England supported by over 50 strategically placed volunteers. We will continue to modify this structure as the needs of our fishing communities change.

Why fishermen need their own charity.

Working as a fisherman is the most dangerous peace-time job. Time spent at sea away from family and friends (sometimes for days on end), makes it a lonely job that very few people can relate to.

Fishermen are therefore a distinct socio-economic grouping within the maritime community and our wider society. As their working patterns and lifestyle are different from those of other seafarers they may fall outside the scope of help given by other maritime and welfare charities.

The Fishermen's Mission understands the hardship fishermen and their families can face in times of need and through our experienced ports welfare team, how best to help them.

The Fishermen’s Mission is the only national maritime charity that provides welfare services specifically for fishermen and their families: whole fishing communities.

Although a Christian charity: the Mission is non-denominational, working with all churches whilst not being tied to any one church and all fisherfolk are very welcome.