Little did I expect to be penning this letter on the week we would be receiving not only a new Prime Minister but also a new Monarch. We at The Fishermens Mission mourn the loss of our Patron Queen Elizabeth II, someone who has taken such a keen and active interest in the work that we do throughout the entirety of her long reign.

The news comes in a year of huge challenge and change as we gradually emerge from the shadow of the Coronavirus and as a nation are dealing with many other difficult issues at home and abroad. Challenge and change also go hand in hand with the fishing industry as our fishermen face unprecedented fuel costs, quota shortages and so much more that makes life extremely stressful and often deeply uncertain. At a domestic level, many active and retired fishing families will, like so many, be affected by the ever-rising heating and food costs.

The Fishermens Mission is the only fishermens charity that provides emergency support alongside practical, financial, spiritual, and emotional care. We help all fishermen, active or retired, and sea-going staff working in the aquaculture industry. With around forty Port Staff supported by admin, volunteers, and a specialist team at Head Office youll find a Mission presence around many parts of the UK coastline from Lerwick to Newlyn in Cornwall.

Our staff are always busy - responding to incidents, helping clients access benefits, applying for grants on their behalf, often in conjunction with other seafaring charities, and making contingency plans ever aware that this may prove to be a particularly difficult and challenging winter for many.

Here in Lerwick, the UKs second largest landing port, with so much activity in our waters, incidents at sea are relatively common. Over the past year, we have assisted on various occasions when fishermen have come ashore following an accident, having taken unwell on their vessels, or perhaps required a doctor or dental appointment. Help given has included arranging transport to appointments; visiting those detained in hospital; providing clothes and toiletries; booking flights, ferries, and accommodation; trying to bring reassurance to the fishermen concerned as well as liaising with skippers, and sometimes their families.

Many of these crewmen are migrant fishermen working on UK vessels and being a long way from home need that extra support. Our emergency help also extends to fishermen on foreign vessels and there are often challenges with communication and occasionally trying to contact their company abroad once they are ready to leave hospital.

Contact with our local active fishermen is largely maintained through regular harbour visits, walking around the quayside meeting them in the course of their work and sometimes going on board for a yarn. We keep in touch with our retired fishermen and widows through phone calls and home visits around the islands bringing pastoral support in times of sickness and difficulty. The unexpected arrival of the Omicron variant shortly before the end of last year resulted in yet another change a second December making dozens of Christmas visits from the doorsteps!

Ministering to the bereaved is a large part of our work and over the past year I have conducted nearly 50 funeral services trying to bring some comfort and support to individuals and families. We are thankful that following the upheaval of the last two years the many restrictions have now been lifted and things can for the most part return to some form of normality.

Please help support us as we, very much in the spirit of our late Patron, continue to bring Christian care and compassion to those who undertake a difficult and dangerous occupation in these challenging and ever-changing times.