Speaker Meeting, 6.15 for 6.30pm

Mon, Sep 18th 2017 at 6:15 pm - 8:00 pm

Speaker: Yvonne Penn, a Public Engagement Officer for the Sailors' Society.


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The Sailor's Society is the oldest of the Maritime charities caring for the welfare of Merchant Seafarers.  It's an international charity working across the world to offer welfare and practical support to seafarers, their families and their communities. With over 90% of our goods arriving by sea, it offers support to this often forgotten workforce. Sailors can face loneliness, piracy, abandonment, imprisonment and are often away from their families for an average of 9 months each year.

Yvonne said:  "Your phone, your computer, your cup of coffee: 90% of everything you use comes by sea, transported by an often invisible workforce of 1.6 million seafarers.  Without them we would miss most of the things we rely on every day. But to bring these things to us, seafarers in turn miss many of the things we take for granted.  They leave their homes and loved ones to go to sea for up to a year at a time, facing extreme loneliness, violent storms end even piracy.  They miss births, funerals, Christmases - seeing their families grow up.  Many of these men and women come from the world’s poorest communities, with limited career options.  The Sailors' Society works in 27 countries around the world, providing a lifeline for seafarers and their families in need through chaplaincy, education and the relief of poverty and distress."

Sailor's Society Website

'What We Do' Main Pages:

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24th October is World Polio Day

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Brighter Futures launched their Radiotherapy Appeal in 2015. Today, 7 years later, a ribbon cutting ceremony has taken place at the Great Western Hospital

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A brief summary of our Rotary year ending 30/06/2023

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Giving money and support to the people in Swindon & district who need it most

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We went to the races in March. It was a meeting with 10 races, 8 riders in each. It wasn’t at Epsom, or Haydock Park, or just up the M4 at Newbury. It was, of all places, in Wanborough Village Hall.

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The Rotary Club of North Wiltshire (the name was changed to the Rotary Club of Swindon North in 2008) received its charter from Rotary International on 28th September 1966

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Rotarian Terry Williams' remarkable and unique fund raising effort, living in a ShelterBox emergency tent for a week in the Market Place, Highworth

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