MNWB requests their Port Welfare Committee members participate in follow up important survey by 5th February 2009.

The ITFST and ICMA plan to publish a second report on the improvement and effective delivery of Port-based Welfare Work. The first report was based on information collected from seafarers themselves (Click here to see the publication, Port Based Welfare Service for Seafarers, 2007) whilst the second, new study will be based on information collected from the employed and volunteer port welfare workers themselves. These include chaplains, ship welfare visitors, drivers, centre-management personnel and all other Port Welfare Committee members - basically everyone involved in meeting seafarers’ needs when they come into port.

The Board encourages all those involved in seafarers’ welfare in the UK to take the time to complete the survey. Obviously, the future validity and usefulness of this survey depends on the accuracy of the information provided by those involved in the direct or indirect delivery of welfare services to seafarers. This is your opportunity to provide your info and views on seafarers’ welfare in a confidential manner. Remember we all contribute to seafarers welfare – please follow the links below and, in anticipation, thank you for your cooperation.

Survey Author - Professor Erol Kahveci's Cover Letter

Dear Port Welfare Committee Member,

The ITF Seafarers’ Trust and International Christian Maritime Association seeks your cooperation with a study about seafarers’ welfare workers which aims to provide information and analysis for the improvement and effective delivery of port based welfare work for seafarers.

The project is jointly funded by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and the Working Lives Research Institute (WLRI). I am the main researcher in the project. My name is Erol Kahveci and I am working at the WLRI in London Metropolitan University as a Professor of Seafarers’ Welfare.

The project includes an online survey questionnaire for seafarer welfare workers. Your participation in this questionnaire is extremely important for the successful completion of the study. There is a section in the questionnaire about your background. Please rest assured that this information is collected for practical reasons. This is a global survey and every port welfare worker around the world has been invited to participate. It is vital for me to know where the questionnaire is coming from so that I can follow up ports where there is no response or a low response rate. Your personal information will only be seen by me and will under no circumstances be passed on to any other organisation or individual. This information will be deleted when the survey ends and will not be included in the data analysis. In the final report it would be impossible for a reader to identify the name, institution or port of the individuals who participated in the study. The study has the full backing of the ICMA Executive Committee and other Seafarers Welfare organisations which are not members of ICMA.

The survey should take around 25 minutes to complete. Please try to answer every question as thoroughly as you can. Please note that this questionnaire is not centre or port based, it is based on individual seafarer welfare workers therefore it is important that everyone falling under this category is invited to participate even though they work in the same port for the same organisation.

Could you please invite other seafarer welfare workers in your port to participate in this project. It would be impossible for me to reach all the seafarer welfare workers described in the three categories listed below. Therefore your help in inviting other people to participate in the survey questionnaires would be highly appreciated.

In order to have access to the right questionnaire for you please read all three categories below and choose the category that most closely describes your position and click on the link to have access to the relevant online survey. If the link page does not work please cut and paste the relevant link (http:// address) to your web browser and then click enter.

Thank you very much for your help.

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Three Surveys for Three Different Groups:
Which group or groups of welfare workers do you belong to?

1). Pastoral welfare workers directly employed by Christian or faith based maritime ministries in a full or part time capacity - including port chaplains (ordained and lay), deacons, pastors and other lay personnel occupying similar positions please click on the link below:
www.survey.bris.ac.uk/londonmet/welfare1

2) Welfare workers employed by secular or faith-based organisations in a full or part time capacity including centre managers, duty managers, administrators, centre workers, shop/bar keepers, “non-pastoral” ship visitors, drivers, trainees, and other personnel occupying similar positions please click on the link below:
www.survey.bris.ac.uk/londonmet/welfare2

3) Volunteer welfare workers who work part-time or full-time to provide welfare services to seafarers, including those on port welfare committees please click on the link below:
www.survey.bris.ac.uk/londonmet