British Ship Adoption Society - Current Status

[Lt(N) Nicholas Armstrong, RCN]

Toronto

23 Jan 18



Hello - I am a reserve RCN officer and secondary school teacher in Toronto, Canada. We are interested in the current status of The British Ship Adoption Society as we are interested in a special project regarding a vessel previously adopted by a now-closed school in the UK. We are relieved to find this website as, according to the UK Charity Commission webpage, the society closed in 1991, but we presume for tax purposes and official registration only.  We would like to know who and how we can can contact the current administration for the BSAS.  Thank you.  Aye.

[Lt(N) Armstrong]

Having read more of the other threads, it would appear that the BSAS no longer exists and that the Marine Society (or perhaps the MNA) now carry on the role of creating this type of connection?

[KG]

Adopt a School:



Many seafarers will remember the Ship Adoption Society that linked individual schools to ships, opening the world to children in those schools. Members of the MNA have agreed to adapt this and adopt a new initiative with one or more schools in their local communities.



Appreciation, even knowledge, of the UK’s maritime heritage of exploration and trade across thousands of miles of ocean offers an exciting and hugely rewarding story of adventure and technological advance. Many would say the ship was at the forefront of every chapter in our County’s technical advance and trade was the wealth that built a nation; the social and economical history that also built an imperfect but benevolent empire…contrast and compare.



The MNA continues to campaign for wider recognition of our maritime heritage and our ‘Adopt a School’ policy hopes to contribute to a positive change in perception of how our country developed such a significant role in the development of world trade and the seafarers who made a difference to how we live our lives today.


LINK 1


LINK 2


Contact: LINK


Please update / let us know how you get on.

Keith.

[KG]

The below was found a while ago via newspapers.com, the link no longer works to the original.

Keith.


The British Ship Adoption Society.


SINCE THE DAWN of recorded history, the people of the British Isles have had a close link with the sea and the men who sail it. Today 800 British schools are linked with 800 British merchant ships through the British Ship Adoption Society, a non-profit organization created to promote interest in ships, their crews, foreign lands and overseas trade. Three years before the society was founded, in 1933. a Captain Woodcock, since retired, commanded the Dulwich. The ship’s owner advised the captain that the ship had been selected to correspond with the two young sons of Lord Sandon. who were to be brought up with a knowledge ol merchant shipping. For the next four years, the salty veteran of the sea corresponded with the boys, telling them of his voyage, cargoes and the ports and countries visited by Dulwich. Schools throughout Britain learned of this and became interested in the idea of teachers and pupil) corresponding with officers ant crew members of a ship which might be regarded as their own To answer these requests, the British Ship Adoption Society came into existence in 1936. By the time World War II broke out more than 200 ships and schools were enrolled. Today there are four times that number -- and there is a waiting list of more than 100 schools, each eager to adopt vessel. Applications for membership are ‘forwarded by schools and education societies to the society, with offices aboard Wellington on London’s Victoria Embankment. As often as possible the link is based on a local attachment -- the schools in a port city will be matched with a ship sailing from that port, if possible; or a ship’s captain or crew may express a preference for a school in a particular locality. A small fee is charged ship owners and education units to support the society which also sometimes receives bequests. It serves to handle all records and as a mail headquarters -- but all mails are forwarded privately, and unopened ·-- recording all correspondence and being sure that letters from schools to ships are expedited so that mail reaches ships at their next port of call. But if ships and schools choose to correspond directly, they are free to do so. During the war year s the society was one of the few organizations in direct, continuous contact with Britain’s merchantmen and the tie between ship and child was of tremendous morale value. Letters, cigarettes and other gifts reached seamen even in prison camps after ships had been sunk and crewmen captured by the enemy. For the merchant seaman half a world away from home, the con slant flow of letters serves vital need. For the children a vast knowledge of ships, the sea and foreign ports is gained. So are samples of sugar cane from Cuba, pineapples from Hawaii, coconuts from Africa and elaborate drawings showing both the workings of “their” ship and the foreign land* it visits. Schools’ gifts to ships often include tape recordings and photographs illustrating life at the particular educational institution. When possible, ships in British ports ere visited by students of the schools which have adopted them -- a highlight for seamen and children alike.

[KG]

The Marine Society was established in 1756 by Jonas Hanway, a trader who wanted to establish a trained crew of recruits for the country’s ships.


Hanway reached out to orphans and boys from poor backgrounds and gave them naval training.
This meant they were equipped to crew on the King’s ships, and enabled them to develop a respected career, when few other opportunities were available to them.

The charity continued to support young people on training ships up until 1944, when the Second World War caused a shift in direction. After the war, the charity refocused its efforts on helping those who did not have the financial means to make a career on the sea.


LINK


LINK 2

[powellcorderoy]

Powell-Corderoy – 1936
The M/V Solarium Story (M/V is abbreviation for Motor Vessel)

(Powell Corderoy School is in Dorking Surrey - in 2016 they celebrated 200 years since it was founded as Dorking British School)


When the Solarium ship was built in 1936, the school successfully applied to adopt a ship and they were allocated an oil tanker M/V Solarium.

The Captain of the ship was Mr. J. Davies and it was owned by the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company.

In 1937 the school started taking a weekly magazine called:
“The Journal of Commerce and Shipping Telegraph” – this allowed them to learn the ship’s whereabouts each week.

In doing so they also learnt about different places in the world, the weather in these ports and also how the ship travelled and was maintained. To add to the excitement Captain Davies wrote to the children with his news!

In return, the school sent letters to the ship and also a copy of the school magazine. The crew sent letters, picture post-cards and updates to both the school and some children at their home.

The ship travelled to many ports such as: Liverpool, Barry in South Wales, The Mediterranean, Curacao (off Venezuela), Balik Papan (Borneo), Suez Canal, Singapore, Hull, North Shields (Tyne) Muscat Oman. (The hottest seaport)

In October 1937 there was an exhibition at County Hall in London: “British Ship Adoption Society Exhibition” – Powell-Corderoy mounted and conducted an exhibition about their ship and were complimented on what an interesting and well prepared show they arranged, (Proud to be Powell!)

Remarkably, in 1937 The British Ship Adoption Society had adopted “Do Better Still” as their guiding motto.

Before Christmas 1937, the Captain and officers of M/V Solarium sent some money (£3 12s 6d) for The Infant’s Christmas Tree. In return the children sent Christmas Mail, Magazines and a Camera to the ship. [In today’s money that would be almost £500!)

[KG]

Thank you so much.



Of great interest.



Regards,



Keith.