CLOSURE OF TEESMOUTH LIFEBOAT STATION

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Since posting the link to the RNLI Annual Review of Accounts last night, it would seem that the RNLI site has gone down........I don\'t think the 2 are related.

Should anybody want it, I can e-mail the document to you in PDF format,
 
TC, It\'ll just be one of them coincidences that happen from time to time.....

remember Rio Ferdinand told us he remembered to ring his uroligist the day he forgot to take a sample he was told three times to remember !!! :o :o :o

[Edited on 13/4/2006 by peter.m]
 
Lol Peter.......who knows????.....lol

But I honestly don\'t think the 2 are related........with over £400 million in reserves, I doubt if they\'d be worried about what NESA members might think.
That\'s the reason why (despite several suggestions to do so) I haven\'t written to the RNLI condemming their decision - as that it just what it is, a DECISION - no consultation - no views or opinions taken into account - just a decision to close the station and no amount of protesting about it by NESA members will make the slightest difference.

I have however, written to the lads making up the crew of Teesmouth Station, condemming the actions of the RNLI and passing on the support and good wishes from all at NESA.

Should anybody feel that they too would like to show their disgust at the decision to close the station and their support for the Teesmouth crew (and I\'d urge you to do so), you can e-mail the station at:

[email protected]
 
Apologies Mike, I forgot to comment on your suggestion:

\"Lets just make sure all our funds we raise go to local RNLI stations and not the national fund.\"

I mentioned this issue in the same topic title on the Boat Fishing forum.
I hope it explains my feelings on this enough......

\"It has been suggested that the money we raise from the shore comps and associated auctions should also go to a chosen N.E. station - rather than donated to the RNLI national coffers.

Now this is a suggestion I can sympathise with - BUT there are 2 issues which cause me a bit of concern if we were to go down that road:

1. Although NESA is N.E. based, we\'ve got members from all over the country. Why should somebody living / fishing on the West coast, South coast, Wales, Scotland, etc keep donating time, effort & money to RNLI stations in the N.E. of England?

2. Whilst we all like to see the money we raise go to where it would do most good (ie a Lifeboat Station itself, rather than into the RNLI central funds), who\'s to say that the station we raise funds for 1 year, isn\'t gonna be closed down the next.

I think (and it\'s only my opinion) that the RNLI have, in recent years, let down an awful lot of people - people who truly have the ethos of saving lives at sea at heart: the people who crew the lifeboats, the people who are dependant upon a reliable, secure service and the people who actually raise the money to keep the service going.\"
 
I understand what you are saying Tony as I was put in this position not so long ago.

I do most of my fishing in the Blyth area but had to change everything from a certain comp due to the RNLI kicking the Blyth boat into touch.

That said I don\'t want to go down the road of supporting another charity.

I wasn\'t too chuffed but never mind, such is life. It was my chosen charity so no problems.

Not so sure at the moment. I honestly don\'t know if this is the way I want to go.

A 481 million reserve is not really the way I would be looking to go mate.

Jim.
 
Most charity shops have prime locations in high streets now,they\'ll be paying top wack rates and rent

Unfortunatley they dont. Registered charities get reduced rates from the Councils. I think they only pay about 25% of the business rates due.

The main provison in this is that they only sell second hand goods but I know of several that sell new items. How can bona-fide retailers compete with this?

Some charities are just plain greedy and the one that usualyy p***es me off is when they tell you how much you have to donate. If I want to donate to a cahrity I will give what I want and not what they tell me to :casstet:
 
Having sent an e-mail to the lads at Teesmouth Lifeboat Station ealier this week, I\'ve recieved a reply today from Neil Marson, who is the Lifeboat Operations Manager, there.
Just thought you\'d like to read it.................

\"Dear Tony

Many thanks for your email. The crew of the Teesmouth Lifeboat are very grateful for the support that you and your organisation are showing. As you can imagine it came as a great shock to the station to learn that the RNLI intends to push ahead with the closure.

What makes this decision more unbelievable is the fact that the RNLI seem to have rejected, without any consideration, the offer made by PD Teesports to provide, at no cost to the RNLI, an afloat berth suitable for an All Weather Lifeboat, alongside the current lifeboat station, at no cost to the RNLI.

That along with the fact that £400,000 of charitable donations was used to construct shore facilities suitable for an All Weather Station two years ago, seem to demonstrate that the RNLI have little consideration for the tremendous effort made by organisations like yours, and the general public in raises funds to support the RNLI.

We believe that there is still the opportunity for the RNLI to undertake a full and proper review of the offer that has being made by PD Teesports, and that they should suspend the decision to close the station until this review takes place.

Once again many thanks for the support that you have shown to this Station.


Regards

Neil\"



The 3rd paragraph is particularly interesting (regarding the costs involved in building a complete new facility there, just 2 years go).
My heart goes out to these lads (and all such lifeboat crews) as it\'s they who are the public face of the RNLI and they do so much to raise money themselves - not to mention the small fact that it\'s THEIR lives they put on the line in providing the service........free of charge.

Let\'s hope that the generous proposal from Teesport IS looked at again and that the current decision to scrap the station is reversed.
 
Says in the Mail on Sunday today (so it must be true) that the Government is looking to sell off the Air Sea Rescue services and the Americans are favourites to win the \"billion pound contract\". Sure that\'ll improve things :mad: :mad:
 
According to a letter I received from the RNLI, we have on the north east coast, the densest all weather boat populations of any coast.

While I can understand that most of the call outs that Teesmouth were called to may have been completed by an inshore boat and the rest that needed an offsore boat could have been answered by elsewhere, after reading how much money the RNLI have in reserve I am at a loss for words,

However I will still continue to support them as I hope I never have to call on their services.
 
it is a sad sign of the times, everything will be going private soon,well almost everything is anyway, im sure before long that we will all have to have medical insurance for to cover costs for any medical care that you will need.
i think it is a kick in the teeth for all the brave men and women who work on the lifeboats,riskimg their very own lives when they do get a shout.
 
Tony I think I will START with M. Charlton and see which direction he sails me in mate. I have written three letters to date but have not been happy with any of them. Going out now but am going to compose number four and send it when I get back in later.

Jim.
 
Jim,
I wrote to Neil Marson again and asked him for the e-mail addresses for both Michael Vlasto (RNLI Operations Manager) and Andrew Freemantle (RNLI Chief Executive and Secretary). This is Neils\' reply:-

\"Tony

I hope that my email clarified the situation, as it really is, and not what the RNLI\'s PR machine was putting out. I read the comments on your web-site, and I was moved by the level of support that your members are showing.

Please find below the email addresses for the following:-

Mike Vlasto [email protected]

Andrew Freemantle [email protected]


Could I also suggest that if your organisation feels strongly about the situation, that you write to the Chairman of the Trustees, Sir Jock Slater. organisations like yours, which donate funds to the RNLI are fundamental to enable it to continue to deliver the service that we expect, loss or threat of potential loss of such funding will focus RNLI\'s attention very quickly!!!.

I feel that the Trustees will have not being made fully aware of the strength of feelings on the North East Coast. And it is not to late for them to suspend their decision pending a full review of the offer made by PD Teesports.

The crew of Teesmouth Lifeboat have not given up on this, and I still strongly believe that the RNLI can safely do a \"U\" turn and in doing so would not be criticised for it.

His address is:

Sir Jock Slater
Chairman RNLI
RNLI Headquarters
West Quay Road
POOLE
Dorset
BH15 1HZ

Once again on behalf of the Station thank you for the support that you are giving to us.

Regards
Neil\"


I\'ll be writing to all 3.
Should anybody else feel the need to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, these days), then PLEASE DO SO.
As a group who have in the past raised quite a large amount for the RNLI both locally and nationally, we have a right to make our opinions known on their decision to close the station.......the more people who write letters of complaint, the louder our our voice on this issue.
 
Jim,
I\'ve just mailed you the letter I\'m gonna be sending to Andrew Freemantle, Michael Vlasto and Sir Jock Slater.
 
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