The RNLI and its overseas spending.

[4mastacker]

As much as I have the utmost respect and admiration for the lifeboat crews who willingly and unflinchingly go out to sea in all kinds of atrocious weather conditions to rescue those in distress, I do not understand why the organisation feels the need to spend its donated funds on things like this. The link is hidden behind a paywall.

I am sure that when folk are chucking their money into the collection boxes, they are thinking it is going to the upkeep of the boats, lifeboat stations or buying essential equipment and not on clothing and creches in foreign lands.

If what is in that report is anywhere near accurate, I feel the Charity Commission should start taking a long hard look at the activities of a lot of major charities. I would be most reluctant to have to take the RNLI off the list of charities I support - certain others have already been ditched because of their abhorrent behaviour toward fundraising - but I think the organisation needs to remind itself it is the Royal NATIONAL Lifeboat Institution and not International Welfare and be more open to the general public as to where, and on what, its spends their generously given donations. We have already seen political correctness being enforced within the RNLI (e.g. the saga of the mugs): is this an organisation which is losing its sense of direction in order to appear to be on trend and appears to be spending its money on overseas projects at a time when it should be maintaining its UK base?

[Sisemen]

Stuff that for a game of soldiers! The RNLI is the ONLY organisation I will chuck money in the tin for (apart from RAFBF and RAFA) when in the UK. They’re now off the list.

[Magnus]

Here's one about a lifeboat.

[ribrash]

As a fisherman who has used the RNLI I am sickened by this.

[Pontius Navigator]

The last CEO was a Vice-Admiral. If I received a 3* pension I would be honoured to give my services to such a true beneficial charity. Now, apart from this, I see the new CEO receives over £188,000.

Like Marie Currie, 30 years ago we raised a considerable sum each year for them with "everything raised in the county is spent on the county". Then she saw an advert for a fund raiser £30k plus car. Mrs PN as a full time nurse earned half that. That was another charity off the our list.

[ribrash]

I've mentioned this topic on a few of my other forums.My word a Hornets nest has been prodded.

[1DC]

The lady who is now the Chief Exec.,has introduced lots of political correctness and removed the loyalty that was given to the lifeboat crews hence the reason for crews being sacked or leaving because they cannot serve anymore under the present regime.

[Pontius Navigator]

The lady who is now the Chief Exec.,has introduced lots of political correctness and removed the loyalty that was given to the lifeboat crews hence the reason for crews being sacked or leaving because they cannot serve anymore under the present regime.

According to the source above the CEO is Mark Downie.

There must be hundreds of competent executives who would and could do a job like this.

https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/rnl ... utive.html

[1DC]

Last year i read about crews being fired because they were drinking tea out of mugs that had a well endowed lady on them. At that time the boss was female, perhaps she was below CEO..

[ribrash]

They sacked our complete local crew at New Brighton.

[Undried Plum]

The RNLI is my favourite charity. I've been contributing routinely for well over a third of a century and they are named in my will.

I'd like to know, quite exactly, how much donated money they are sending abroad to buy burkinis.

Their Royal Charter status makes their detailed accounts quite opaque.

[Capetonian]

I shall have to look into this as it's one of the charities that I've supported fairly generously over the years.

[4mastacker]

If I may add a word of caution about leaving a share of your estate to any of the big charities. Always leave a specific amount rather than a share/percentage of your estate

My late cousin left a percentage of her estate to a number of beneficiaries including two large national charities as well as some small charities local to where she lived. When the estate came to be dispersed, the small charities said "Thank you very much", whereas the two major ones, with plush offices in Central London, challenged the value of the estate claiming that property had been disposed of at less than its true value hence reducing the value of the estate and the amount they would receive. Had my cousin left them a specified sum of money there would have been no challenge.

It took over two years before the matter was settled and the beneficiaries received their share of the estate.

Folks don't make donations to charities just to line the pockets of the charity's lawyers and CEOs. Our experience with my cousin's estate has tarnished our views of making donations to any charity. Now, I shall think twice before chucking money in the RNLI bucket where before, that action was an automatic given.

[ian16th]

Reading this makes me very disappointed.

As I've said on here before, Redcar, my home town has the worlds longest continually serving lifeboat station, and in a separate museum, the worlds oldest lifeboat.

I was brought up to virtually worship the crew of our lifeboat, and whenever it was launched the townsfolk turned out en-mass to help in any way they could.

On the counter of every pub there was a RNLI lifeboat collection box. If after buying a drink or a round, the change was small; the standard response when offered this change was, 'Put it in the lifeboat!'

I wonder what happens today?

[Undried Plum]

I'm somewhat torn by this sort of thing.

Another favourite charity of mine is ShelterBox. Sadly, it turned out that the founder and dictatorial boss was syphoning money out of the charity and giving juicy contracts to his own son. 10,000 stoves changed hands with a markup of 60%. He was prosecuted for fraud or embezzlement or somesuch, but the prosecution failed.

It's a great pity because both RNLI and ShelterBox do truly brilliant work and undoubtedly save human lives, but rotten leadership at the top is uncomfortable to fund.

[Pontius Navigator]

UP, indeed, ex-RN Rotarian who set up Shelter Box within Rotary with similar aims as Aquabox. Then it got separated with hi m treating it as his own fiefdom and shutting out his fellow Rotarians.

[Undried Plum]

PN, thanks for reminding me about Aquabox. I dunno why I'd more or less forgotten them.

I'm hugely impressed by the Rotarian network and how they organise distribution of aid in the most difficult of circumstances. I've just had a look at the AquaBox website and at the thoroughly practical list of things they put in their boxes.

I contribute the approx price of a ShelterBox (£500) each Quarter and a similar amount to the RNLI on a Quarterly Standing Order and also to WaterAid and Trussel Trust on the same basis.

As a way of saying "Harrumph" to the RNLI leadership, in addition to sending a Nastygramme to their top leadership, I'm going to throttle back the Quarterly payment to them by £150 and give that money instead to Aquabox. I shall be copying that Nastygramme to Frau Saxe Coburg Gotha and to Prinz Heinkel of Kent and inviting their comment.

The work the RNLI does is just as vital and just as brilliant as it ever was of course, but I want to make a little protest about the arseholery of its current top management and, as they are clearly money-driven people, this seems a good way to do it.

[OFSO]

We support only the Lions Club of St Cyprian, France. We know the Committee, fine honest people, we know how much they collect and we know where it all, repeat all, goes. We have been invited to see the disbursements to poor children at Christmas and crippled or terminally-ill children. The Lions Club fund their own management out of their own pockets so none of the charity collection 'disappears'.

Otherwise, no.

[Magnus]

Apart from loose change in charity boxes in the pub, we only donate big time to a local hospice.

[Pontius Navigator]

Rotary Foundation also used to do 100% by investing for 3 years. About 10 years ago this was not enough so now up to 5% is withheld though not necessarily spent. Unspent monies are then returned to the pot.