SeaFit celebrates five years
24th July 2023
Fishermen asked for feedback in survey to mark milestone
The Seafit initiative, which provides free physical and mental wellbeing services to fishermen at quaysides around the UK, has launched a survey to coincide with its fifth anniversary.
The multi-award-winning programme, operated by the Fishermen’s Mission and the Seafarers’ Hospital Society, celebrated its milestone on 18 July.
Over the course of five years SeaFit has provided 7,364 engagements with healthy lifestyle advisors, 1,370 health checks and 566 dental appointments and treatments. The initiative has also delivered 819 physiotherapy sessions and 708 counselling sessions.
The programme has now launched a survey, which can be completed anonymously, to help it understand the ‘true impact’ of its services and how it has supported active and retired fishermen and their families.
Mission chief executive Marc Evans said: “SeaFit is doing amazing things thanks to the hard work and determination of the Fishermen’s Mission staff at the quayside to connect fishermen, who are amongst the most in need and are often the hardest to reach, with the services they are entitled to receive, and more besides.
“SeaFit was intended to be a dynamic response to the current and changing requirements of the fishing community, and over the past five years SeaFit has gone from strength to strength. It continues to diversify, reaching more people and connecting them with a greater range of services than ever before.”
The programme recently won the top accolade in the Healthcare and Medical Research category at the 2023 Charity Awards.
Sandra Welch, CEO of the Seafarers’ Hospital Society, said: “We are extremely proud to support SeaFit’s collaborative approach to addressing existing gaps in healthcare and access for the UK’s fishing communities.
“By empowering fishermen and their families to manage their own circumstances and wellbeing through support systems, information and accessible services, SeaFit has built admirable networks of trust and compassion in ports and harbours over the last five years.”
The survey can be found here.
This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.30 here.
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