The Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation (RMNEF) has announced plans to increase beneficiary numbers by 700 per cent.

The charity which specialises in “enabling education” for children of Merchant Navy staff, professional fisherman and crew members of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s lifeboats, said it was on a mission to “bring its ‘funds-to-beneficiary’ ratio into balance and provide more aid than ever before”.

RMENF said it will implement the beneficiary increase - from 27 to over 200 - over the next five years and will "capitalise property assets" to pay for the expansion programme.

A spokeswoman for the charity told Civil Society News that money raised from the sale of a school “in the region of several million pounds” will go towards the scheme.

Charles Heron-Watson, chief executive of RMNEF said: “It’s not just education for education’s sake. The end goal is always to try to enable each ‘Foundationer’ to obtain training and qualifications to enhance their employability.

“We’re currently in the somewhat unusual position of not needing to raise any additional funds to implement this programme, so we’re concentrating on finding more young people of seafaring families, and helping them build their educational foundation for a successful future."

The charity was founded in 1827 and has been supported by every British monarch since 1836 - including Queen Elizabeth today and the Duke of Edinburgh who is the charity’s current president.  

Beneficiaries are assessed on an individual basis, with benefits including contributions towards school or university fees, living expenses, educational books, visits or equipment, school uniform costs, laptops, internet access or even a car.