Lending support to charitable causes
It was after the ICS Council Meeting in March 1978 that Clifford
Clarke, the then vice president, invited Robin Fenton, then current
president, and Harry Lorkin, the immediate past chairman, to stay
behind for a while. They went on to discuss the idea of forming an
educational charity, to "promote shipping education where it would
be inappropriate to use Members' funds".
The Educational Trust Fund was established from these initial
discussions and the founders, who were well known in shipping
circles, started fund raising. Fortunately it was a time of
prosperity among our membership and a substantial capital
base was soon established.
Today, the ETF consists of six trustees, who are elected to
serve on an annual basis. They are responsible for ensuring the
capital investment is sensibly placed, to find new sources of
funding and to spend the trust money on causes that lie within the
principle objectives as contained in the Declaration of Trust.
Needless to say that list has grown since the original
discussion, but the concept is true throughout. The principles
are:
To promote the education of persons in the business of
shipping;
To promote the maintenance of any school or faculty providing
education in relation to the business of shipping;
To provide scholarships for further education of persons wishing
to pursue a career in the business of shipping;
To provide lectures and films of an educational character in
relation to making a career in the business of shipping;
To do all such other charitable things as are necessary for the
attainment of all of the above objects or any one of them.
Over the last few years the Trust has supported causes
including: the funding and setting up of a number of branch
libraries worldwide; financial support for less privileged students
in South East Asia and Africa; the president's annual prize for the
most outstanding student of the year; and support for two places
each year at PREP held at Warwick University.
However it is the two most recent projects that are by far the
most exciting and the reason the ETF needs to increase its
fundraising now. Firstly, the ETF has sponsored a cadet through the
Maritime London Officer Cadet Scholarship scheme.
He is sponsored for three years on a course which is a mix of
classroom and sea time. The young man writes a very good blog for
the ETF on the ICS website. The ETF hopes to continue this scheme
with other cadets when this current program comes to an end.
HIGH TIDE
The other interesting project originated on Teeside and is the
brain child of past chairman of the ICS, Kevin Shakesheff. High
Tide is a charitable foundation, created and driven by a small
number of organisations working within the port and maritime sector
on Teesside. Its aim is to assist young adults between 14 and 18
years of age to find meaningful employment within the local
shipping and port industries.
Kevin first approached the ETF in 2012 for assistance in funding
the first stage of the project, namely production of a video about
port and shipping job prospects for presentation to all the
schools. The video was to be aimed at delivering the message in a
fashion which would grasp the young adult's attention.
The video has now been made, some young adults have already been
on site visits and the project is well and truly up and running.
High Tide has been very successful at getting local schools and
businesses signed up to the project, so ensuring both participation
and other sources of funding.
The ETF would like to see this project idea taken up in other
areas, particularly where there is high unemployment and a seeming
disconnect between the local community and the local port. The ETF
would also like to hear about other projects in this vein. So if
you have got an educational project of this type that needs some
extra funding (it doesn't have to be in the UK), please do not
hesitate to contact the ETF through Head Office.
Equally, the ETF would like to sponsor more cadets and help more
local schools encourage students into our industry and fund new
projects. In order to do this the initial capital laid down in 1978
needs to be topped up. You can be assured that all donations will
go to a good cause.