The Wellington Trust
Wellington Today
The extensive maritime library is available to student researchers. More than 16,000 people visit the ship each year on tours, open days and other functions. Various charitable trusts are managed onboard. These are charities concerned with mariners and their families in need, education of students of maritime matters, and sponsorship of young people contemplating a career at sea.
HQS Wellington is a natural focus for the London based maritime industry; for companies and associations linked to the River Thames; and for nautical organisations supporting the young and disadvantaged. The ship is extensively used by the Mission to Seafarers, King George’s Fund for Sailors (now Seafarers UK), the RNLI, Merchant Navy Welfare Board and other maritime charities. Open Days with articulate and highly knowledgeable tour guides provide a fascinating history of the ship, its artefacts and of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners.
Major maritime seminars and monthly joint informal seminars are hosted onboard HQS Wellington by the Honourable Company in conjunction with the Institute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology; the Nautical Institute; the Royal Institution of Navigation; and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. There are book launches, conferences and group gatherings – often with a nautical interest. The Wellington also serves as a unique venue for corporate and social events including a number of memorable wedding receptions.
So, this proud and historic vessel now serves as a platform to promote study, education and appreciation of a long-standing maritime heritage. As the best of the past is preserved, the future is promoted through use of Wellington as a platform to project the advancement of UK shipping, of Merchant and Royal Navy officers and seamen, and of professional seagoing standards.
Proof of her international standing came in 2003 when the judging panel of the prestigious World Ship Trust chose her, from many famous and deserving heritage ships around the world, to receive a coveted World Ship Trust special award – only the sixth ever made.
