The Bridge Report

EDM number 543 in 2015-16, proposed by Jim Fitzpatrick on 20/10/2015.
Categorised under the topics of Charities, Children and families, Employment and Shipping.

That this House welcomes The Bridge Report launched by the Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation (RMNEF) and wishes to highlight the issues mentioned within; acknowledges the challenges facing seafaring families; notes that there is a disconnect between organisations set up to support families of current and former serving member of the Merchant Navy and their beneficiaries; is mindful that the RMNEF's focus is education and on providing educational support for children of Merchant Navy seafarers, professional sea-going fisherman and crew members of the Royal National Lifeboat Institutions vessels; recalls that 95 per cent of the UK's international trade by volume goes by sea and therefore recognises the need to raise awareness of the crucial role played by this fast-becoming forgotten sector; is aware that, despite being a rewarding profession, seafaring can be hazardous, involving a great deal of time away from home in sometimes unsafe environments affecting those at sea and their families and loved ones when health implications occur; further notes that the nature of the profession also has a financial and psychological impact on those concerned; is conscious that there are many organisations offering support, including the RMNEF, the Merchant Navy Welfare Board, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children's Fund, Seafarers UK, the Royal Liverpool Seamen's Orphan Institution, Sailors Children's Society, Nautilus, the Merchant Navy Association, the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, the Watch Ashore, the Liverpool Seafarers Centre and the Mission to Seafarers; and calls for an increased awareness of those charities which exist to support seafaring families.

This motion has been signed by a total of 12 MPs.