Immingham

Anne-Laure Gouraud is a volunteer ship visitor in the Humber ports. She has recently resumed ship visiting following the birth of her son.

Anne-Laure describes her pastoral work with seafarers as "very simple". When she goes onboard, she finds seafarers uncomplicated. In her experience, they usually smile and welcome ship visitors warmly, offering them coffee. She is struck by what she calls an "amazing atmosphere of compatibility" which she finds on some ships even though numerous nationalities must co-exist. She contrasts this with office life where there are often difficulties between colleagues. According to Anne-Laure, seafarers are always happy to see women ship visitors. She says

"they talk about their families, wives and children which maybe they do not do with men".

Her advice to anyone thinking of becoming a ship visitor is

"do it but don't think you are going to save the world".

In many ways it has been a lesson in humility. She is humbled by the faith of the seafarers and how they look for any opportunity to attend Mass. This, she says, is a reminder of what a privilege it is to be able to attend Mass easily and participate in a parish community. Anne- Laure sums up the rewards of ship visiting saying

"I thought I was going to do some good but I have learned far more from seafarers".

Background

Anne-Laure and her husband Vincent first learned of AOS at an information day at their parish church in Barton-upon-Humber. AOS port chaplain Fr Colum Kelly and his team from Immingham talked about their pastoral work in the local ports. This was followed by a discussion on how parishioners could become involved in supporting seafarers.

Anne-Laure and Vincent wanted to do something together which would also help others. Their previous experience of the sea was largely limited to a few fishing holidays in Normandy. However, being French and living in Britain, they felt an empathy with seafarers who are also away from their own countries. So Vincent became a volunteer driver for AOS and Anne-Laure began working in the Immingham Seafarers' Centre.

Soon after, Anne-Laure accompanied Fr Colum on ship visits at weekends. Having gained experience, she became a regular ship visitor in the port of Grimsby together with fellow volunteer Aileen Heald. Grimsby is a small port visited by a few regular ships. Crews began asking the ship visitors if they would be seeing them again.

In Summer 2007, baby Adrian arrived. Anne-Laure decided not to return to work but she needed an activity outside of the house. In Spring 2008, when Adrian was old enough to be left with a child minder, Anne-Laure returned to the port of Immingham, accompanying Fr Colum in ship visiting. She hopes to re-establish a regular visiting pattern.

Could you be a volunteer ship visitor for AOS?

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Candlelit carol service at Immingham Seafarers' Centre

Seafarers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Russia and various other countries were invited to a candlelit carol service at Immingham Seafarers’ Centre on Saturday 15 December. Also present were some 70 AOS volunteers, supporters, parish contacts and friends from the seafarers’ centre and local parishes around Immingham and Grimsby. During the service, 115 candles were lit as participants sang carols and listened to Christmas readings.

After the service, seafarers and friends shared food and drink and presents were distributed. Fr Colum and the pastoral team have a supply of Christmas presents for 300 seafarers. These presents have been generously supplied, and beautifully wrapped, by local AOS supporters. Many of those supporters attended the carol service and were delighted to see how much pleasure their Christmas presents brought to the seafarers.

Photos above: scenes from the carol concert, reception and distribution of Christmas presents

Mass onboard at Christmas

When seafarers cannot come to Stella Maris, Stella Maris goes to the seafarers. Fr Colum celebrated Mass onboard and distributed presents to the crew of a ship in port in Immingham over Christmas.

In Immingham, the support of an inland parish is invaluable

Fr Colum Kelly, AOS port chaplain to Immingham, was for many years parish priest at St Anthony’s Church in Leeds. When Fr Colum joined AOS in 2004, his former parishioners decided that they too wanted to help seafarers. So members of the parish formed the St Anthony’s Seafarers’ Fund. Numerous fundraising events were held which were both hard work and great fun, ranging from Christmas dinners to charity auctions.

By the end of 2006, St Anthony’s Seafarers’ Fund had raised enough money to cover 60% of the cost of a new car for Fr Colum. The Merchant Navy Welfare Board then awarded AOS GB a grant for the remaining 40%. In March 2007, the new silver Vauxhall Zafira bearing the AOS logo was presented to Fr Colum. At a lively event in Leeds, Fr Colum and his former parishioners celebrated their joint commitment to serving seafarers.

Reliable vehicles are vital for chaplaincy work especially ship visiting. Ports are often very large, wholly unsuitable for pedestrians, and at some distance from town centres. In addition port chaplains are frequently asked to provide transport for seafarers from ships to local facilities and to run errands or collect shopping on their behalf.