Sailors’ Society launches first cadet wellness at sea conferences
21/06/2022
Maritime welfare charity, Sailors’ Society, is launching a series of international wellness and mental health conferences for maritime cadets.
The four online conferences focus on key issues facing cadets today, including crisis and diversity. They are aimed at cadets in India, Africa, the Philippines and Greece, and also feature internationally renowned speakers. The dates are:
- India, 3 August 2022
- Africa, 21 September 2022
- The Philippines, 22 September 2022
- Greece, 20 October 2022.
Wescom Group is a supporter of the Sailors’ Society, which offers practical help and advice to mariners through its international network of chaplains. We sponsored Sailors’ Society Wellness at Sea conference and also several staff members have been ambassadors.
Conference first
Sailors’ Society’s CEO Sara Baade says, “The content has been tailored to focus on key issues facing today’s seafarers, for example, the current crisis in Ukraine and the impact of the pandemic, as well as the issue of diversity as many companies look to ensure a diverse workforce.
“Our maritime schools’ conferences aren’t just a first; they are aimed at proactive investment in young minds. These events recognise that today’s cadets are tomorrow’s workforce and future leaders.”
The online conferences will be chaired by Johan Smith, Sailors’ Society’s head of wellness and also lead on the charity’s Wellness at Sea programme. He says, “We hope that these events will build on findings gathered at the pilot conference and generate a wealth of analytical and subjective data to help shape future work in wellness and mental health.”
More than 1,800 delegates registered for a successful 2021 pilot webinar in India that served 19 maritime schools. In a survey of attendees, more than 95% said they had a better understanding of well-being and 100% said it had helped them better prepare for a future career at sea.
Sailors’ Society was recently named as a supported charity of the Posidonia international shipping exhibition in Greece.
