Why aren't these Charities Government Funded?

I don’t bury my head in the sand but see no unholy mess.
I’m pleased if you’re sufficiently wealthy to accept a tax rise. I’m pretty well off but unwilling to pay any more tax than I already do.

Going off piste again, but Personally, I think people should take out insurance to cover the cost of rescue, after all, we have to take out holiday insurance and declare if we are to participate in a sport, etc.
DH’s pastime could be dangerous and he always took out insurance from his sports governing body to protect himself and others.

Germanshepherdsmum

Somehow I doubt you’d be happy with a big personal tax hike. You’d say the wealthy should be taxed instead wouldn’t you?

Er - do you know how wealthy I am?

I would refer you to the threads on here today to remind you what a mess we are in, a number of which you are a contributor on. Burying your head in the sand doesn’t work.

The navy do get training in small boats, we see them practicing whenever we leave Portsmouth on a day time ferry bound for France.

But the thing about the RNLI is that their crews are local, many have links to the sea, as fishermen and the like. It means all the crews know their local waters and coastline very well indeed, and when you may need to get close to shore, when rocky outcrops reduce water depth to inches and could tear a life boat's hull out, then you need crews who know their territory.

We are RNLI supporters and get their magazine and so many of their inshore and offshore rescues, some in horrendous weather conditions, are successful because the crews know their territory so well.

Please don't get the Government involved. These charities do an amazing job and HMGov would just mess it up.
I'd rather keep my direct debits going than pay more tax which will end up somewhere else altogether.

I was in New Zealand during our winter (their summer) for two months and was quite flabbergasted to find out that their ambulances are not state funded! Imagine that! The St John’s Ambulance Brigade supplies all ambulances in New Zealand. I’m not sure if the government give them a grant, but they certainly don’t supply ambulances, nor the staff who run them and treat patients until they arrive at hospital, nor provide the servicing and upkeep of the ambulances. I was shocked to discover this was and realised just how lucky we are.

And I don’t know what the unholy mess is - perhaps you could clarify.

Somehow I doubt you’d be happy with a big personal tax hike. You’d say the wealthy should be taxed instead wouldn’t you?

Germanshepherdsmum

We’re talking about the RNLI and Air Ambulance aren’t we Casdon?
I hadn’t noticed that the country is in an unholy mess - at the risk of derailing the thread further, pray tell.

You asked me how much tax I was willing to pay, and I told you as much as it takes to get the country out of the unholy mess it’s in. I’m not a money grabber, I want things put right, simple.

RAF used to do the helicopter search and rescue. My neighbour and also my brother in law were RAF personnel involved. The RAF stopped doing this service and now run by the Coastguard. I believe the company is Bristow. Im not sure who funds this much needed service nowadays.

MerylStreep

The more I read the op the more ridiculous the idea is.
The op seems to assume that crew in the Royal Navy are capable of handling small craft and understand tides, sandbanks etc.
The majority have probably never handled a small craft in their lives.

DH has but he's getting on a bit now ..... 😀

SueDonim

I wonder why so many people think the armed forces are just dogsbodies available to mop up after other people? They’re stretched enough as it is in the defence of the UK and now they should be reaching people off mountains etc?

This ^

We’re talking about the RNLI and Air Ambulance aren’t we Casdon?
I hadn’t noticed that the country is in an unholy mess - at the risk of derailing the thread further, pray tell.

SueDonim

I wonder why so many people think the armed forces are just dogsbodies available to mop up after other people? They’re stretched enough as it is in the defence of the UK and now they should be reaching people off mountains etc?

👍👍👍

They are trained in disaster control and always there when other services fail, go on strike etc.

it would seem more natural to incorporate the air ambulances services into the nhs.
most people assume they are already, like other paramedics.

eazybee

I believe they don't want to be, because of the Government interference which it would entail, according to a speaker I heard recently from the RNLI.

This too.

As ex-RN, my DH supports the RNLI because it is very important to him, as it is to all seafarers.

The RNLI could easily be manned by the Royal Navy or Royal Navy Air Station

No it couldn't.
You obviously know little about how the Royal Navy functions.
Or the Forces in general.

Government doesn't fund anything, sazz1. We do.

And, yes, as eazybee says, government would interfere if it gave tax-payers' money to the RNLI or air ambulance.

The Coast Guard is government funded, it's a 999 servic they work alongside the RNLI.

As much as it takes to sort out the unholy mess this country is now in.

As I said, how much more tax are you willing to pay?

And there’s this.
fundraising.co.uk/2023/04/24/financial-pressures-saw-donations-drop-by-5bn-last-year-report/

Germanshepherdsmum

Absolutely Meryl.
And the RNLI and Air Ambulances seem very adept at fundraising, and lifeboat crews are proud volunteers.

If you call ex servicemen giving up days of their time to sit for full days in hospitals (the same guy every week where I worked, from 9-5 to catch maximum numbers) and on the street having to ask people to part with their money or the service will go under then yes they are effective. I pay a monthly direct debit donation to Air Ambulance, as I’m sure many people do, because it’s the only way to keep them airborne. It shouldn’t be like that.

Absolutely Meryl.
And the RNLI and Air Ambulances seem very adept at fundraising, and lifeboat crews are proud volunteers.

MayBee70

I only realised recently that maintenance of the canals was a charity. I was quite shocked. Some local councillors are clearing up parts of our village that have fallen into disrepair. I daren’t query why they’re in such a state.

Funnily enough I’m reading a great book about the canals at the moment which covers how they were reinvigorated after WW2. It’s about a guy’s journey on them on his narrowboat, and it’s funny as well as surprising.