Luke

Can someone give me the facts???
1. Are they all Volunteers??
2. Does the Goverment pay for any boats/equipment??

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Yes
No

pslewis

I dont think they get paid anything?

Now THEY do a tough job, They would have my support - they fight the sea (not much you can do about the sea is there?) Difficult to limit the risk of the sea

Pete

Shark

Ditto Puff

And adding Great Respect

David

Mountain Rescue anyone?

Respect there to - I was there when my best mates Dad needed them - top blokes.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

They get about £10 per call out or something silly like that.

The whole service is funded by donations and covers both the UK & Ireland.

Can't remember the stats for lives saved but it is impressive.

Just to help them not put their lives at risk, always wear a lifejacket when going out in a boat.

marty_t3

I'd say there was a pretty substantial difference between the firemen and the lifeboatmen..

Lifeboatmen are mainly there to help a minority of people who put themselves in a more perilous position than say, for example, some old lady lying asleep in her bed and her combi boiler goes up in flames.

Amanda-Jane

I have total respect for the lifeboat crews. Fortunately I have never needed their assistance but you never know the minute.

They don't just rescue nutters out windsurfing, surfing, sailing or bl00dy idiots who decide to have a walk along a coastal walkway in a storm force winds. They help out in times of crisis like helicopter/plane crashes. I personally think it is aworthwhile service and shouldn't rely on Blue Peter for fund raising!

To late for me to rant about this one.

IWatkins

Mountain rescue get nothing, well, not when I was in it. We did used to get some equipment for free, waterproofs etc. but pretty much supplied all personal kit ourselves.

At one point it got so bad that we were paying for fuel for the land rovers from our own pockets.

Cheers

Ian

Amanda-Jane

Was out with the school hillwalking club and this girl was there who suffered from brittle bones was there and slipped and yes you guessed it she broke both her legs! Why she was there I will never know but we had to rely on mountain resuce and they were fantastic. She did have to be airlifted as we were at the top of Ben Ime!

Total respect to those guys too!

Amanda

Luke

Full on mental mode....

Nothing from the Goverment.

Luke

Full on mental mode....

Nothing from the Goverment..... What is this country coming too???

Pete Croney

Huge respect for both Lifeboat men and Mountain Rescue.

I was rescued by a lifeboat, years ago. I was windsurfing and was out with a mate on the Blackwater, on a week day. The wind was really good and we were having a good time. It was the last blast of the day and was great until my mast snapped at the boom.

Being on a sinker board there was no hope of sailing in so my mate went for help. I stayed with the kit as it is brightly coloured, so easily spotted. The winter wet suits we were wearing would have made the 1+ mile swim in very difficult but were bouyant and warm. The current was ebbing at approx 5-6 knots.

It was dark when they found me, a mile out in the North Sea, 8 miles from where the gear broke. It was by now dark.

Top guys.

They get a fat cheque from me every year as it is run entirely from donations.

Nixs

Lifeboat men/women are funded by the RNLI

Luke

Who funds them?????

IWatkins

You fund the RNLI. I.e. they are run entirly from donations from the public. The RNLI gets no money from the government at all.

I believe they do get some liason help from the Ministry of Transport etc. but not a penny.

Cheers

Ian

Nixs

The RNLI rely upon public donations. They also attend practically every fete/fair in the UK!! and sell RNLI Souvenirs. (My Mum manages a small RNLI committee in Kent). It's voluntary and they receive no money from the government, but they raise a hoooge amount of money every year in order to keep the lifeboat equipment totally up to date.

easyrider

It is correct that the RNLI is entirely funded by donations,with out these it would never be able to provide the 1st class service that it does today,and being a charity it needs every penny it can get.The sad fact is,is that the RNLI couldnt afford to pay like the other services.
If the Government did get involved it would probably get cocked up pretty sharpish!

fatherpierre

Mountain Rescue get paid!

They are picked from volunteers from all 3 Armed Forces.

They are paid their normal rank/job/danger wage and train all day - a la fireman.

They do a 3 yr tour of duty and then return to their trained field.

Did it 4 yrs ago and saw some gruesome sights.

Mufasa

From the R.N.L.I. website.

Are there any full-time crew members?
There is a full-time mechanic at each all-weather lifeboat station, whose job it is to
maintain the lifeboat and its gear. In some cases there is also a full-time coxswain.
There is one completely full-time crew at Humber in Yorkshire, where the men and their
families live on the isolated Spurn peninsula.
Three of the four Thames lifeboat stations have a full-time manager and a mix of full-time
and volunteer crews.
Are the other crews paid?
Other crew members earn their living outside the RNLI but they do receive a few
pounds each time they are called out to cover their expenses and as a small
compensation towards loss of earnings.

More faq here in .pdf

My Station

IWatkins

fatherpierre,

Yes, the military mountain resuce teams do get paid but there are not as many military teams are there are 'civilian' teams.

The civie teams don't get paid.

Cheers

Ian

bubblegum

hubba hubba seamen!
Is capt Birdseye a Lifeboat man as he has got fishy fingers!

blow them some bubbles