RNLI

CLB

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I guess many will be surprised by how many people are on the payroll of a 'volunteer' organisation. I am also surprised by their 'lack of funds' statement. I thought they were loaded.
 
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This is part of a programme of activity that, combined with increased investment in fundraising, is designed to help us get back to living within our means

I am surprised as the story is always about how wealthy they are. Indeed some have criticised them for not managing their money efficiently. I hope this is not a sign of a general trend in donations falling.
 

lw395

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I would guess the recent expansion in Lifeguard activities has taken a lot of cash.
They've buit a lot of posh huts and annoyed a few people.
 

Kukri

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I am surprised as the story is always about how wealthy they are. Indeed some have criticised them for not managing their money efficiently. I hope this is not a sign of a general trend in donations falling.

I have an idea that the fabled wealth of the Lifeboat was largely down to bequests. Whilst some of these were down to WW2 merchant seamen forgetting to revise their wartime wills, which all merchant seamen were encouraged to make on a standard form which included a clause leaving remainders to the RNLI, and wartime merchant navy people have mostly passed on now, I think that people from the next generation, who have also made bequests, living longer and entering care homes may have had a greater impact.
 
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Bajansailor

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I was made redundant from the Design Office at the RNLI 25 years ago because they had to downsize, consolidate, become more efficient - all the classic spin words.
Roll on some years later - all (or most of) the design work was now being outsourced, yet the Technical Department was now almost twice the size compared to when I left.
Maybe they are crying wolf, in order to generate funds quickly - trouble is, if you do this too often people cotton on and ignore your plaintive pleas for help.
And it doesn't really help matters if you say in your PR that we 'have to get back to living within our means'.

Edit - note added re Minn's comment above.
Yes, most of the funds generated by the RNLI have come from legacies - I remember being told that the financial effect of the ladies knitting sweaters, having cake sales, rattling the collecting tins has negligible effect on the finances, but it is all good PR. The RNLI have a legal / legacies department that actively courts elderly folk who are well off.
 
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dunedin

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I have a huge respect for the front line volunteers who go to sea. Real heros. And they deserve the best equipment.

But it has been apparent for at least a decade now that the Poole management have been adding a huge amount of financial fixed overheads, which in any “business” is a dangerous thing, and in a charity historically funded by legacies, which are declining, was clearly a path towards financial crisis eventually.

Notable examples include:
- lavish expenditure on new bigger buildings all over the country - eg:
- 40 years ago our local RNLI crew met for training in a room above the local pub. Free and linked to the local community. Then they built new premises with a dedicated training room, empty for 95% of the week. Big costs to maintain this building
- another local lifeboat used a table in the entrance to the lifeboat shed as a shop - free and helped show off the lifeboat to attract custom. New shop built, round corner and out of sight, costing much more wIth less footfall
- knocking down entire buildings under 20 years old to build bigger ones
- insourcing of more and more boat building and maintenance work into Poole - looses flexibility to ramp up or ramp down boat work, and looses ability to get multiple competitive quotes
Etc
 

ShinyShoe

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I might be wrong, but I thought they were one of the charities that said GDPR would hurt.

They didn't have consent to do lots of marketing they did.
 

ShinyShoe

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I might be wrong, but I thought they were one of the charities that said GDPR would hurt.

They didn't have consent to do lots of marketing they did.

I'd donate. Probably as a regular installment, but I've believed the spin that it wasn't really needed..
 

graham

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We as leisure sailors can pick and choose when we go to sea .Crews of" all weather lifeboats" go whenever they are needed. The clue is in the name.

If you are sending people out in extreme conditions they need the very best boats and equipment available.Which is probably why this cost cutting exercise seems to be concentrating on slimming down support staff rather than down grading the standard of boats and equipment.
 

wrr

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Some years ago, a boat owner, with much more money than social responsibility, demanded to know what he would get if he joined the RNLI as an offshore member. My reply was that when 5 or 6 men and women put their lives on the line to rescue him, he might get the ability to look them in the eye. It seems that 20 or so years on, this still applies.
 

rich

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The last 2 years they have spent most of the money training a whole new crew, here in Jersey, because they sacked the experienced old crew, the instructors have been flying in and out and staying in the best hotels.
 

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