The Seafarers' Charity

Main Grant Programme

The Seafarers' Charity's main grants for charities and not-for-profit organisations delivering welfare and safety services to current or former merchant seafarers and commercial fishers and their dependants. Applications must address at least one of five outcomes: better working lives at sea, safer working lives at sea, improved health and wellbeing, enhanced financial resilience, or increased social justice. It can fund core costs, project costs, some capital costs and capacity-building, and requests of £10,000 or less can be decided by staff between Trustee meetings. The charity is the UK's largest independent maritime grant maker and awarded over £2.7m through 60 grants in 2025.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: Amount not specified; no fixed round
Deadline: Rolling; apply any time
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

Registered charities, or not-for-profit organisations with charitable aims, that deliver welfare services to support current or former merchant seafarers and/or commercial fishers operating in the UK and/or the dependants of people who have worked at sea
(A 'seafarer' is anyone employed or working in any capacity on board a ship whose normal place of work is at sea.) The work must address at least one of the five Strategic Outcomes
The organisation must have submitted its most recent annual accounts within the 10 months required by the Charity Commission (or the equivalent authority if not a registered charity) and meet the charity's due diligence requirements on governance, finances, policies and banking
Non-charity legal forms (for example a mutual society or community interest group) and organisations outside the UK can apply by supplying proof of legal status
Individuals cannot apply
Organisations new to the maritime welfare sector, or first-time applicants, are asked to contact the Impact Team before applying

What it funds

Aim: services, initiatives and interventions that improve seafarers' lives against at least one of five Strategic Outcomes (Better Working Lives at Sea, Safer Working Lives at Sea, Improved Health and Wellbeing, Enhanced Financial Resilience, Increased Social Justice):

Core funding costs: general running costs such as staff and management costs, development costs (e.g. staff training, professional memberships) and support costs such as IT, finance, HR and premises
Project costs: the direct costs of delivering a project or service, plus a share of overheads of no more than 5% of the amount requested
Some capital costs: new equipment or refurbishing or building premises, prioritising initiatives that directly support delivery of welfare services to current and ex-seafarers and their families
Capacity-building that increases a charity's ability and efficiency to deliver its mission
Examples of funded activity: advice lines, hardship grants, port chaplaincy and ship visiting, safety initiatives, retirement accommodation, advocacy, abandonment support, relationship counselling, and initiatives tackling loneliness or suicide
Vocational training for those planning careers at sea or returning to sea

capital grants are rare and substantial capital grants are very rare

you can apply any number of times in a calendar year, provided each application is for a separate activity, project or service

What it will not fund

Individuals (the charity can signpost individuals to organisations it funds)
New Royal Navy or Royal Marines causes (funding reduced since 2018; existing restricted-fund relationships only, with an exception for organisations supporting RN and RM Officers and their dependants)
Capital projects in seafarers' centres or seafarers' accommodation, other than for existing donor-restricted relationships (no new Delivery Partners sought in this area)
Maritime educational opportunities for school-age children, apart from exceptional circumstances
Individual Sea Cadet units (apply to the Marine Society and Sea Cadets)
Sailing or youth clubs, or organisations whose primary purpose is to provide opportunities to sail or learn to sail
Grants that would promote particular religious beliefs (welfare or pastoral care for seafarers by religious organisations can be funded)
Political organisations, generally

How to apply

Read the Grant Funding Principles and Overview and the Step By Step Guidance for The Seafarers' Charity Applications 2026, and prepare answers to the listed questions in advance
If you are new to maritime welfare or a first-time applicant, contact the Impact Team (impact@theseafarerscharity.org) to discuss your application
Register an account on the Benefactor online grants system (seafarerscharity.benefactorcloud.co.uk) and confirm your email address
Log in, select Start a new application, choose the programme, and pass the four-question eligibility quiz
Complete the online form: contact details, organisation details, application summary (strategic outcome, title, summary, description up to 750 words), finances and staffing, beneficiaries, and impact (three measurable deliverables, baseline, monitoring and evaluation)
Upload a budget and supporting information, and your latest financial statements or annual report
Confirm authority to submit and consent to information sharing, then submit (you cannot edit after submitting)
Respond to the Impact Team's due diligence request sent through Benefactor messaging; the application cannot go to the Impact Committee until this is received

applications are assessed on a rolling basis and you can apply at any time; the Impact Committee meets in March, July and October, and applications for a round must be received by the middle of the previous month (e.g. mid-September for October)

applications under £10,000 may be considered through the Small Grants programme and approved by the Leadership Team at any time

if successful, two authorised signatories must sign the Form 1 Acceptance Form (and new grantees return Form 2 bank details) before payment by BACS, normally within 3 weeks; a monitoring and evaluation report is due within about 11 months

Have ready

Budget for the application showing what the grant will pay for (.pdf or .xls, max 10MB; Word files will not upload)
Latest financial statements or annual report (drafts welcome; otherwise top-line income, expenditure, surplus/deficit, total funds and reserves for the last two years)
Three quotes for any capital costs
Due diligence after submission: annual report (if separate), legal constitution or proof of charitable registration if not public, recent redacted bank statement (within 3 months, ideally two signatories), finance contact details, strategy review date, GDPR/data protection policy, safeguarding policy and next review date, trustee safeguarding annual review, trustee rotation information, trustee equality, diversity and inclusion information, complaints procedure

organisations that are not registered charities, or are outside the UK, must also supply proof of legal status (memorandum and articles, rulebook or constitution); missing policies on the due diligence list do not affect the grant decision

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