Posted on: 24 July 2018
Over 100 people from marine insurance, maritime law and other maritime institutions attended a special celebratory fundraising dinner at Trinity House on 3 July to mark the 25th anniversary of the Maritime London Officer Cadet Scholarship (MLOCS) scheme. With The Lords Greenway and Mountevans (Patron of MLOCS and Chair of Maritime London respectively) greeting guests as they arrived for a pre-dinner drinks reception, the evening went on to include a wonderful meal, speeches, an auction and a publicly announced pledge of support.
One of Seafarers UK’s Royal Charter Objects is the ‘Education and training of people of any age to prepare for work or service at sea’, which is why the charity was happy to support the organising of the evening. MLOCS itself provides the funds to enable young people to undertake the training required to become a Merchant Navy deck, engine or electro-technical officer. In doing so it helps to link promising young people with maritime ambitions to City-based firms willing to sponsor their training.
The Lord Mountevans spoke after dinner on the achievements of MLOCS since its founding and the careful cultivation of the scheme’s close links with City-based marine insurance and other maritime firms. Time Howse of Gard UK, one of the very first cadets to train and then go to sea with support from MLOCS, before later pursuing a successful maritime career ashore, then spoke about how the MLOCS opportunity and experience had impacted so positively on his career and life. He then announced that Gard UK would itself be sponsoring a new cadet place for the coming three years.
The evening was held with the support of Maritime London and both charities involved (MLOCS and Seafarers UK) benefited from the monies raised on the night. This was considerably boosted by the volunteer auctioneer of the night, Phil Parry of Spinnaker Global, who closed proceedings by successfully auctioning off four different donated items and experiences. One of these included a large painting of the Oriana entering Sydney harbour in 1960 by Grenville Cottingham, bought by an individual who as a very young boy had emigrated with his family to Australia on the Oriana that same year.
