RNLI to lose £36.5m in funding due to EU regulations

THE RNLI is set to lose £36.5m of its funding over the next five years, due to new EU regulations.
The RNLI could be set to lose £36.5m in funding due to new EU regulationsThe RNLI could be set to lose £36.5m in funding due to new EU regulations
The RNLI could be set to lose £36.5m in funding due to new EU regulations

The maritime rescue charity are being affected by new regulations that come into force in May 2018 which will mean that charities, along with other organisations, must have a member of the public’s ‘express consent’ before contacting them.

The RNLI is the first charity in the country to take action to comply with the new rules, which mean that it had to ask everyone on its database who has donated in the past if they want to receive any future requests for funds.

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A total of 900,000 people were contacted on the charity’s database to see if they still want the RNLI to send them requests for donations.

Around 400,000 said yes, so the charity can only now approach these people in order to raise funds, reports BBC News.

The charity has an annual income of about £190m and it is estimated that the new regulations will lead to a loss of £36.5m over the next five years, equating to a five per cent loss of income a year.

Aaron Gent, from RNLI Portsmouth told The News: ‘People will now have to opt to allow us to contact them.

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‘We just can’t go around and put donation leaflets through people’s letter boxes.

‘I think we can now only hope that people continue to support us.

‘A lot of people do not know that we are a charity and they seem to think we are funded by the government but we are funded by fundraising.

‘The new regulations will mean that it is going to be quite difficult for us moving forward.’

The EU regulations could mean that people will be getting fewer cold calls and letters from charities dropping on the doormat.

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