GrantRadar

Merchant Navy Welfare Board (MNWB)

MNWB Grants

Rolling grants from the Merchant Navy Welfare Board for its Constituent Member organisations, supporting quality welfare services for serving and retired UK seafarers, fishers and their dependants, and seafarers visiting UK ports, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands. Only MNWB Constituent Members can apply (membership is free, but Associate Members cannot access grants). It funds projects and services, not core costs. Collaborative projects score higher, and projects lasting over a year must show how they will be funded afterwards. MNWB awarded £182,664 in 21 grants to 13 organisations in 2025.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
Amount not specified
no fixed round
Deadline
Rolling
apply any time
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Only MNWB Constituent Members
  • MNWB has about 47 members, mostly maritime and veterans' welfare charities such as The Mission to Seafarers, Stella Maris, The Fishermen's Mission, Sailors' Society and Seafarers Hospital Society
  • On the application portal you pick your organisation from a drop-down list of members
  • Membership is free and comes in two categories, Constituent and Associate
  • Only Constituent Membership gives access to grants, and Constituent Members commit to attend relevant working groups and conferences and take part in MNWB surveys and research
  • Work must benefit serving or retired UK seafarers, fishers and their dependants, or seafarers visiting UK ports, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands
  • Port-based projects need the support of the relevant Port Welfare Committee before applying
  • Leased-building capital projects must address security of tenure
  • Grants are not made to individuals

What it funds

Welfare services for serving and retired UK seafarers, fishers and their dependants, and for those visiting UK ports, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands. This includes:

  • Repairs and refurbishment of existing port-based welfare facilities, such as seafarer centres and seafarer accommodation
  • Equipment for port-based welfare facilities, such as laptops, lone-working devices and MiFi units
  • Non-capital project funding, including leasing and subscription costs
  • Port-based services such as health and mental health services
  • Projects supporting the welfare of seafarers and their dependants at sea or at home
  • Feasibility studies such as research projects
  • Revenue funding for short-term pilot projects and start-ups for up to 1 year

Collaborative projects carry a higher weighting, and MNWB prefers projects funded from multiple sources.

What it will not fund

  • Grants to individuals
  • Core funding and general revenue costs (non-capital costs only for delivering projects/services)
  • Retrospective grants
  • Any VAT that a VAT-registered organisation can reclaim
  • Organisations that are not MNWB Constituent Members (Associate Members have no access to grants)

Projects/services lasting beyond 1 year must show how they will secure follow-on funding; applicants holding significant reserves must explain why the cost is not met from existing funds

How to apply

  1. Read the Grant Application Guidelines at https://www.mnwb.org/grant-funding/#Guidelines; optionally discuss your project first with Hollie Harbinson (hollie@mnwb.org.uk, 02380 337799)
  2. For port-based projects, get the support of the relevant Port Welfare Committee
  3. Register once on the grants platform (https://merchantnavywelfareboard.beaconforms.com/form/28ec4d0c), selecting your member organisation from the drop-down list
  4. Log in to the grants portal (https://merchantnavywelfareboard.beaconforms.com/form/6573e247) using the emailed secure link and one-time passcode, and click '+ Add new' to start an application
  5. Complete the online form, stating the amount requested, total project cost, project details and number of seafarers/fishers/dependants who will benefit, and upload the supporting documents
  6. Tick the declaration and 'Submit my application' and save; you receive an acknowledgement email and the application is locked
  7. Applications up to £10,000 are decided by MNWB's Chair and CEO; applications over £10,000 are voted on by the Board of trustees
  8. If successful, sign the Grant Agreement and complete the Grant Award form with bank details; grants are paid only on proof of expenditure (e.g. valid invoices), never direct to suppliers

Good Grants is no longer used; the new platform replaced it and needs a fresh registration

To change a submitted application, contact hollie@mnwb.org.uk

MNWB may request a business plan or review/evaluation of current welfare services for any major grant, and may ask for reports on project activity and users

Have ready

  • Latest annual report
  • Appropriate accounts
  • Safeguarding policy
  • GDPR policy
  • EDI policy
  • Lone working policy (port-based projects)
  • Project budget, and evidence of match funding if relevant
  • Three quotations, where appropriate
  • Other supporting documentation for the project

Accommodation providers must state the number of MN/FF residents and the average proportion over the last 3 years; new projects give an estimate of beneficiaries

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