to think that if you donate money to stop people drowning, you shouldn't have an issue if aome of that money is used to stop people drowning in poorer countries

[chomalungma]

Yes - the RNLI

They have been spending 3% of their income on supporting projects in poor countries to help prevent people drowning - even though it has had to lay some staff off.

They give a project to buy burkinis so women in Zanzibar can learn water safety skils.

They help support a creche because children are often left unsupervised as their parents have to work and many children drown each day. The creche project has helped reduce drowning deaths by 82%.

I can see that some people would be annoyed that a tiny percentage of their donations is going towards supporting poorer people in foreign countries and reducing their chances of drowning at a time when the RNLI lay off staff.

But it's a good thing to teach people water safety even if they are not in this country, isn't it?

then they can't complain that people are surprised to find out its not a national charity.

Wouldn’t it be a waste of donations to set up a racist arm of the RNLI

How would it be 'racist' exactly? This will be interesting.

To everyone who is not going to donate to the RNLI any more - are you so bothered that for every £1 you donate, 2p is spent on foreign activity? This so appalls you, that you'd rather withhold the other 98p of your donation which is spent in the UK & Ireland?? If so, you're a racist and a bigot. (Yes, I understand about overheads and operating costs etc, so not all of the £1 is spent on active life prevention etc, but you get the idea...)

It’s called the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Donors could be said to have a reasonable expectation that the organization might do what it says on the tin...

^This.

Also, obviously they can spend the money in whichever way they want. Likewise, people who donate can choose to donate elsewhere.

For all you proud nationalists, how do you feel about finding lifeboats in Ireland or is it only African countries you have the problem with? Ireland isn’t part of the UK

But Sticky it is very white. I'm really not sure than the DM froth is about nationalism (although, tbf, most of its readership do seem to think that the ROI is part of the UK).

To everyone who is not going to donate to the RNLI any more

Maybe I missed it but in 70+ replies only one person has said she will withdraw her donations, it's her money she can do what she wants with it.

I do not donate to big charities who spend a lot on admin and staff funding. Saying 'but they do great work' doesn't mean I don't have the right to withdraw my donations and give it what I perceive is a more cost effective charity with a narrower remit.

If so, you're a racist and a bigot.

Honestly, is this the stock phrase people just use for everything? Ostensibly what is wrong with a person deciding they want to support a charity with, as it declares itself a strictly national remit over an international one?

Read some of the responses on Facebook and tell me they’re not racists and bigots. It’s absolutely fine to want to support a local or national charity. It’s not fine to use it as an excuse for blatant racism.

It is about the name.

Imagine if you get approached by a charity called Your Town Cat Rescue and you assume the charity is about rescuing cats in your town based on its name. It’s a reasonable assumption and most people don’t feel they need to research the charity’s website and read their annual reports to understand what the organisation does. What happens when someone says, hey did you realise part of Your Town Cat Rescue funding goes toward spaying and neutering stray dogs in a country half way around the world?

And Your Town Cat Rescue says, hey we have it all over our website and it’s in our annual reports - we’re all about animals, not just rescuing local cats - not our fault you didn’t read before you donated.

Places Are losing there all weather lifeboats as the funding is pulled. This is just the straw for me if they cannot fund the waters of the uk they shouldn’t be funding things else where.

Reading some of the comments on twitter has encouraged me to donate to them

The hatred and vile
Being poured out is disgusting, but not surprising in today's society

There has been lots of discussion about the poor outcomes from the old style model of charity work in Africa lately, and I would wonder if this was similar. Apologies if I’m
Missing some kind of international specialism they have in training to prevent drownings but I’m not really sure why other countries would need them to show them how to stay safe in their own waterspace. It’s worth considering whether there is a need or a charity CEO with an ego trip, but that’s a slightly different consideration than alll foreign aid is wrong because U.K. first innit. Mind you it’s also a bit more nuanced than if you question charities working abroad you’re a bit fat racist

FamilyOfAliens I never said it wasn’t but most people that donate via bucket collections won’t be looking at the annual report. If they think their money is going to their local lifeboat then I can see why they might not be happy. For what it’s worth, I grew up near the sea and really value the RNLI. I know lots of people that would give money on an ad hoc basis assuming it is going to their local station.

Wait until the Mail finds out that nice white English people (not just "British", but English) have been duped into donating organs and blood that could end up in a foreigner.

We need to crack down on this nonsense now.

Oh, hang on. No we don't. Instead we need to tell the Daily Mail, and it's drooling racist knuckle-dragging readers that not all of us are useless cunts that are happy to sit on our pies whilst brave volunteers risk their lives for strangers every fucking day, and that they can fuck right off with their undisguised racist claptrap back to Nazi Germany where they were proud to tell the British what a nice chap Hitler was, and run headlines like "Hurrah for the blackshirts".

I've started the day rather cross.

If you are that set on where you want your donation to be spent @berlinbabylon then you should specify (in writing) when you make it, or read the charity in questions annual report so you understand what you are funding. A charity may however turn down your donation if the conditions are too onerous

You don't appear to have read my post properly. Currently I don't donate to RNLI and don't specify anything about any donations I make to charity and I didn't imply in any way that I do. But I thought it was a charity to fund lifeboats for Britain and Ireland so can understand why other people may have thought the same - I have never studied their website as I am not a donor. I thought that the RLSS is the drowning prevention charity and so may do projects outside Ireland and Britain.

@Userzzzzz people who are putting £1 a bucket are getting riled up about 2p of it going to international projects. Seriously, should the RNLI not save lives elsewhere because there isn't room on the bucket to say that 2% saves lives elsewhere? Not that people would read it if it was there.

People who put £1 in a bucket shouldn’t get a say in anything. Who do they think they are?

Often, these kinds of projects are a learning curve for everyone involved. By investigating problems elsewhere, skills and knowledge are gained that can be applied locally as well. If I had an issue with the RNLI spending resources outside this nation (which I don't), the benefit gained in knowledge and experience would offset my concern.

Comments on Facebook, Twitter which are hardly discriminatory platforms and very loosely moderated (and will attract tons of GoadyF, Trolls and racist idiots professing to be donators who are none such) and comments on MN are dare I say, different?

It's also not an excuse to accuse everyone of being a racist bigot. As usual the truth is more subtle.

Some people would prefer their donations be used in the UK, especially when the charity outwardly describes itself as having a national focus. There is nothing wrong with this. Since they are donating they have to right to refuse to donate if it is drawn to their attention that, in fact, despite headlining themselves as being nationally focused they are in fact internationally focused. This is especially more pertinent if it comes to light that the charity is struggling to fulfill it's local remit and having to lay off staff etc etc.

Some people who donate to charity are racists. I would think they were a minority since as far as I know, being generous and altruistic whilst also being a racist are not positively correllated, however charities have no way of knowing who of their generous contributers are racist or not. Similarly which are sexist or not, or criminals or not etc.

Some of these already racist people upon being disabused of said charitys' focus may withdraw their money.

So some may be prejudiced. But accusing anyone who decides to withdraw their money as being a blanket xenphobic racist bigot is ridiculous.

I thought that the RLSS is the drowning prevention charity and so may do projects outside Ireland and Britain.

True. First page of my "The Lifeguard" handbook is how to check the nationality of a drowning person. It was the bit most of us struggled with on the course, but we soon mastered it. You soon learn how to scan a pool for foreigners.

I wouldn’t care about them using my funds in this way IF I had been informed about these projects in advance. If, as a donor, I hadn’t been informed, I’d be annoyed as I think charities have a responsibility to be very honest.

You have been informed. It's never been a secret and it's explicitly spelt out on their website.

My DM was frothing about this maybe a year ago, I don't know how she heard about it? She used to go to some lifeboat station (?) and donate, then she found out about the foreign aid and now won't give them anything. She's very gammony but not awfully active online so I wonder if she saw some publicity about it at the RNLI place. She's got some horrible bigoted ideas and wouldn't buy a perfume once because a contribution went to Water Aid

then they can't complain that people are surprised to find out its not a national charity.

I think they can, when it has never been a secret.

It’s called the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Donors could be said to have a reasonable expectation that the organization might do what it says on the tin...

It does do what it says on the tin. The fact that you might have go to a little trouble to read what it says on the website/tin doesn't change that.

Also, obviously they can spend the money in whichever way they want. Likewise, people who donate can choose to donate elsewhere.

So long as the people who choose to donate elsewhere are prepared to make their own arrangements in the event of needing help, that's fine. Anything else might just be a tad hypocritical, mightn't it?

Saying 'but they do great work' doesn't mean I don't have the right to withdraw my donations and give it what I perceive is a more cost effective charity with a narrower remit.

Fine, but what other cost-effective charity with a narrower remit does what the RNLI does?

saraclara I don’t agree with it but yes I can see why people who are regularly putting £10-20 in a bucket rather than the odd quid might. Ultimately I think the service should have Government funding given the critical role it plays. In the past, fundraising drives I’ve seen have very much been about supporting the local service which may be why there is a bit of a perception issue.

No doubt there was an element of unpleasantness on the daily mail (when isn’t there!) but there will also be a proportion of people that felt they were donating to something more local. That doesn’t make them bad people. If there is a rhetoric that donors are idiots then it will be the charity that loses out.

so we now have to check all charity web sites before donating?
I havn't read the DM or twitter, just seen the vile stuff on here (goady your a racist stuff) its sad you can't discuss this stuff without the armchair name callers.
I found it interesting that it is an international charity and rather confused.