The SS Chauncy Maples was commissioned in 1898 by the British Universities' Mission to Central Africa. Named after the Bishop Chauncy Maples (1852-1895) she was built in Glasgow, disassembled into nearly 3,500 parts, and pieced together again in Nyasaland (nowadays Malawi). In 1901, two years after leaving Britain, she was successfully floated into Lake Nyasa (nowadays Lake Malawi). Apart from a missionary school the Chauncy Maples functioned as a hospital ship and a refuge from slave traders. Since, the Chauncy Maples has served as a troop carrier (during the First World War), a fishing trawler, and a passenger and cargo vessel.

By 2009 the Chauncy Maples was largely abandoned - she mainly served as a bar for the people of Monkey Bay. She was still in a remarkably good condition, but a proposal to restore the Chauncy Maples to a hospital ship seemed financially unviable. That same year the writer Janie Hampton got interested in the Chauncy Maples' story and set up the Chauncy Maples Malawi Trust to help raise the funds needed to restore the ship to her former glory.

The Chauncy Maples Malawi Trust doesn't raise funds via unsolicited marketing. Like SOS Children's Villages the charity believes that, in general, people are caring and generous and don't need to be targeted by marketeers. The charity has also found another source of income; sponsorship. Amongst the project's major sponsors are the insurer Thomas Miller and infrastructure company Mota Engil.

• More information about the Chauncy Maples Malawi Trust can be found at chauncymaples.org. Donations may be made via JustGiving.
• Both the Bishop Chauncy Maples and the ship named after him have an entry on Wikipedia.
• Janie Hampton is the author of fifteen books, including two books about the London Olympics of 1908 and 1948. An interview with Radio 4's Excess Baggage programme about the Chauncy Maples is still available to listen to on the BBC website.