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The Mission to Seamen acted as a home from home for many sailors.  Volunteers would serve tea and coffee, exchange money and post letters for the seamen who were staying in Cardiff temporarily while they waited for their ship to sail.

Gaynor Hudd explains why the badges show pictures of angels: "When it was first set up, the Mission was called the 'Flying Angel', and the girls working there were called the flying angels. We had little badges with a flying angel on, to wear on our lapels. The Mission was a place for the seamen to go and relax…. I started working at the Mission to Seamen in 1965. We had a caravan in Roath Basin, with an office where the men could make phone calls, a shop and a kitchen where we sold cigarettes but no alcohol, and a lounge area. There were dances held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and the caravan used to be dancing up and down, rocking on its legs. Eventually they replaced the caravan with a chalet, and then a proper building."