Our Work in the Community

One of STAND’s Constitutional Aims is:

“to foster the education of the public in general but school children in particular, in the role that Hull’s Fishing Industry and Communities played in the maritime life and history of Hull” and ” to help and cooperate in school projects which are designed to advance the knowledge of students in the history of Hull’s Fishing Industry and its Heritage.”

STAND contributes to the local community by delivering PowerPoint presentation talks to schools and to adult community groups. We aim to educate and enlighten both children and adults about Hull’s important deep sea fishing history; its industry and its community as well as recount trawlermen’s first hand experiences and memories.

The presentations we deliver to schools helps to support the local curriculum, which covers aspects of Hull’s fishing heritage and our adult talks encourage reminiscence and discussion which is always satisfying for all involved.

Retired trawlermen demonstrate how to mend and braid a net; how to splice rope and tie different kinds of knots.

Primary school children enjoy actively participating in the skill of net braiding; asking plenty of questions as well as enjoying dressing up in authentic trawlermen’s clothing and handling objects.

During Hull’s Year of Culture 2017, a number of primary schools braided nets in their own school colours. These nets were exhibited as part of an exhibition about Hull’s Fishing Heritage. The exhibition was located in various key venues in the city during 2017 – 2018. The exhibition was designed by The Fishermen’s Mission and is now managed by STAND.

STAND played an active role in the exhibition including engaging in interesting, and sometimes moving conversations with visitors about the fishing industry and leading net braiding sessions. We are always looking for a new venue for the exhibition so we can continue to engage with the public and share such important insight into Hull’s deep sea fishing history.

STAND have delivered talks and PowerPoint presentations to a number of adult community groups such as the Probus Group; the Rotary Club; Dove House Hospice Community Day Centre; Willersley House Residential Home; a Community Group in Preston and 5 Senses, a Hull based Arts and Education Centre for Vulnerable Adults.

Throughout all our presentations, we invite participation from our audiences with question and answer opportunities. These occasions always prove to be interesting and enlightening discussions for all involved.

During the Covid lockdown, we were invited to deliver short talks and question/answer sessions via online Zoom to Sight Savers and the Rotary Club too.

We have worked with the Hull Carnegie Heritage Centre on a number of occasions supporting school visits and participating in filming opportunities. Recently we donated a large collection of photos to their archives with permission from a member of the public whose late husband had collected them as his hobby. We have also used the Centre ourselves to help us locate photos for our website.

STAND have held Awareness events throughout the city where we have been able to talk about the work we do in the community and to enlighten the public about our fundraising events and the Memorial Project.

We have, and continue to be invited to liaise with various projects and community events:

We took part in a school exhibition/fundraising event in a pop up shop in Princes Quay Shopping Centre.
We worked as part of a joint venture with other groups to remember the 50th Anniversary of the Triple Trawler Tragedy – marking the event with a special Service in Hull Minster in 2018.
We work with the Hull Museums Service which has included net braiding in Princes Quay Shopping Centre; a joint visit to a local Primary School and a net braiding session with a group of trainee fishermen from Withernsea.
We have had opportunities to be interviewed and filmed for documentaries about different aspects of Hull’s Fishing Industry and recollections of memories. One such documentary was even filmed out in the River Humber aboard a boat based on a trawler design, the ‘Inga Ness’.
We are currently liaising with the Hull Museums Service regarding the ongoing Hull Maritime City Project and the Arctic Corsair Project. We have undertaken some filming for the Projects; we have been involved in cataloguing items from the Arctic Corsair and we are regularly invited to take part in meetings regarding updates on the Projects and to offer advice and suggestions.
Members of STAND have given guided tours around the Arctic Corsair to both individuals and groups since her inception as a Museum attraction over a period of twenty years. Two such groups have included staff members from the Treasure House Archives – Beverley, and the Horncastle Drama Company, who were keen to seek advice for a play they were staging about the ‘Gaul’.
STAND accept invitations and participate in civic events and special Services such as Remembrance Sunday at the Hull Cenotaph; the Sea, Field and Factory Service at Hull Minster and the Sea Sunday Service at St John the Baptist Church on Hessle Road.
As a group, we have had the pleasure of receiving invites to attend social events and occasions. Such invites have included a tour of Trinity House in Hull; a tour of the Treasure House Archives in Beverley and a tour of the modern, state of the art Hull trawler, ‘Kirkella’. This was followed by a day trip to London to attend the christening of the ‘ Kirkella’ by HRH Princess Anne at Greenwich. This included a reception onboard the historic sailing vessel ‘Cutty Sark’ with a meal of 2000 fish and chips portions served to both those present and a large gathering of the general public. This event was sponsored by the ‘Kirkella’s’ owners, UK Fisheries.
We have had invites to attend plays and drama presentations relating to Hull’s fishing history and a special invite to attend a concert by the City of Hull Brass Band where they played a moving requiem for Hull’s Lost Trawlermen. We have maintained contact with the Brass Band as we have the Hull Male Voice Choir who perform a concert for us each year.

STAND are regularly contacted by interested individuals and groups who are keen to donated personal items to STAND’s collection and are keen to find out general and specific information about the fishing industry either for their own personal interest/family history or to further their studies or as information for an event or documentary. One such collaboration assisted Hawthorn Press in their production of a book ‘Sea Sagas of the North’ by Professor Jules Pretty OBE, professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex. In June 2022 Professor Pretty began the launch of Sea Sagas of the North with a series of talks culminating in a visit to Stefansson Arctic Institute in Iceland.

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