The Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation was established in 1827 as an Orphan Asylum, tasked with providing board and lodging for the orphans of British Merchants' Seamen. It is now a British national children's educational charity, which provides funding for the needy British children of Merchant Navy seafarers, professional sea-going fishermen and RNLI lifeboat crew members, who have served
or are serving at sea and who are unable to meet their children's educational needs. Our Patron is HM The Queen and our President is HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, OM. We help our beneficiaries, or 'Foundationers' as we call them, by providing support that 'enables education' - which could be anything from school fees, textbooks or uniform, right through to computers, internet access or even shoe repairs!