Supporting the people who work in the high seas was foremost in the minds of the Largs Rotary group during their recent meeting.

This is because their guest speaker was the Public Engagement Officer of The Sailors Society, Becky Haldane.

This is the oldest charity in the country, looking after the interests of seamen, and was established almost 200 years ago..

Merchant seamen are supported in many ways by the charity.

Becky told of the new dangers facing the merchant fleet. from pirates, badly loaded container ships, shipowners who get into financial problems, and abandon ship and crews in foreign ports with no means of support, the on-going situation in Aberdeen being an example,many more examples of where the Society can help were described.

Two interesting facts were mentioned - a total of nine ships of all descriptions were lost on average at sea every month, and 90% of all goods arriving to the U.K. comes by sea.

The work of the Society is all the more relevant than ever.

Becky will share the vision of Sailors’ Society with churches and community groups and recruit volunteers to support the Society or visit ships.

She said: “It’s an honour to be working for such a fantastic and far reaching society. I travel around Scotland’s ports, towns and villages sharing our passion for seafarers and their families. My hope is to see groups fully connecting with the vision of Sailors’ Society.”

Tony Rowley gave the appropriate vote of thanks.

During the recent meeting at the Willowbank Hotel, President Ron Muir had the task of inducting two new lady members after they had attended the club for several weeks. The ladies will be a welcome addition to the Rotary family.

* Largs Rotary sponsors a number of annual youth projects with local schools. These include Young Chef a school cooking competition, EuroScholar a visit by a pupil to the European Parliament, RYLA for pupils to attend youth leadership courses and the Robertson Trophy - a primary schools quiz.

* An ongoing International project is the eradication of polio. The success we saw in the fight to end polio this year -- with polio-free milestones reached in Nigeria and the African continent -- wouldn't be possible without the support of health workers, local governments, Rotary and Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners