Come to a Mercy Ships event
Hearing it from someone who stood in the operating room does more than any page can.
Most people who end up volunteering or giving regularly say the same thing: they met someone who had been there.
Talks and presentations
Returned crew describe what a field service actually involves - the operating rooms, the wards, the patients they remember, and the parts that were harder than they expected.
These are the events people most often describe as the moment they decided to do something.
Recruitment evenings
For anyone considering volunteering, an evening with a recruiter is worth more than a week of reading. You can ask the practical questions directly: what a placement costs, what qualifications are needed, whether your registration transfers, how long you would be away.
Coming to one commits you to nothing.
Supporter events
Gatherings hosted by the Mercy Ships office in your country, ranging from small evenings to larger fundraising occasions. A good way to meet other supporters and hear what is happening in the current field service.
Ship tours
Occasionally, when a vessel is in a European or North American port between field services, it is opened to visitors.
These are rare, they book up quickly, and they are worth the effort. Walking through an operating room on a ship makes the work concrete in a way no photograph does.
Bringing an event to you
Churches, workplaces, schools and community groups can request a speaker. If you can gather an audience, we can usually find someone who has served to come and talk to them.
Give the office a few weeks notice and an idea of the size and setting, and they will match the speaker to the room.
Finding what is on near you
Events are organised by each national Mercy Ships office, so what is available depends on where you live. Your local office holds the calendar and the booking details.
Questions about events
Can I visit a Mercy Ships hospital ship?
Occasionally. Ships are opened to visitors only when they are in a port between field services, which is infrequent and announced in advance. During a field service the ship is a working hospital and is not open to the public.
Does it cost anything to attend?
Talks and recruitment evenings are usually free. Some fundraising events carry a ticket price. Your national office can tell you which is which.
Will I be asked to donate?
At fundraising events, yes - that is what they are for, and it will be clear from the invitation. At a talk or a recruitment evening you can come, listen, ask questions and leave without giving anything.
How do I request a speaker?
Contact the Mercy Ships office in your country with the date, the setting and roughly how many people will be there. A few weeks notice makes it far easier to find the right person.
Can I meet a recruiter without committing to anything?
Yes. Recruitment evenings exist so that people can ask the awkward practical questions before deciding anything. Most attendees do not apply, and that is expected.
People who speak about this work
Clinical and non-clinical, decades of service and a fortnight of it.
