Seafarers UK and Sea Cadets have won the STEM Award at the first national Maritime UK Awards event held in Southampton this month…
The STEM category was sponsored by DFDS and the award was for Seafarers UK’s ‘Marine Engineering Pathway’ project, delivered in partnership with Sea Cadets. Seafarers UK was also privileged to be chosen as the official charity partner for the inaugural Maritime UK Awards gala event and dinner.
Hosted by Maritime UK member Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, the black tie event took place at the Leonardo Royal Southampton Grand Harbour Hotel with more than three hundred guests in attendance.
Seafarers UK and Sea Cadets were jointly recognised for their three-and-a-half year partnership project that has so far engaged more than 20,000 school students across the UK with tailored, practical workshops and lessons in marine engineering concepts such as buoyancy and propulsion, helping students and schools to understand more about their GCSE options when pursuing a STEM-linked career.
Catherine Spencer, Chief Executive Officer at Seafarers UK said: “It was an honour to see this joint Seafarers UK and Sea Cadets partnership project up in lights in front of such a fantastic industry audience at the Maritime UK Awards. Winning the Award is a great boost for this collaborative effort as our project seeks to engage with a further 40,000 school children over the next two and a half years, opening their eyes to maritime opportunities and careers in general but in particular to the world of marine engineering.
“We are also grateful to Maritime UK for choosing Seafarers UK to be its first Maritime UK Awards charity partner, and to all those who dug deep into their pockets on the night in order to help support our on-going work as we strive to make as much impact as we can. Our grant funding, working with expert delivery partners, ensures that the seafarer is supported at all stages of their life journey, including those who aspire to work at sea and are in training or education.”