At the SCFS conference, Keith Oliver was presented with an award in recognition of over 30 years of service.

Here Keith reflects on his time as Port Chaplain...

My father had always been interested in overseas missionaries and one day he and I went to a church to listen to a couple talking about their work with the charity Christian Mission to the Communist World. This couple, David and Nancy, went up to Ullapool in Scotland to make contact with Eastern European seamen coming ashore from huge factory ships which processed fish. They offered Bibles to them, and the seed was being sown. David and Nancy knew Stan Sherrington, SCFS Liverpool, and put me in contact with him, as I was interested in visiting ships in Ipswich. Stan took me on ship visits with him in Liverpool and we talked a lot about working with seafarers.

I first visited ships independently in Ipswich in the middle of 1989, and a few years later I agreed to join SCFS. It was around mid-1993 when I started going into the Port of Felixstowe as well, following up on ships coming from the big European container ports and Australia. During this time I came into contact with Martin and Volker, to name but two.

Over the years security in the ports has tightened up, especially in Felixstowe. One day around six years ago I drove up to the security gate in Felixstowe and my badge wouldn’t let me through. Apparently, I was considered a security risk and no amount of talking changed that.

I still have access to visit ships in Ipswich, and I have a small WhatsApp/Messenger group which continues with seafarers.