How to talk about…
A guide to help you talk about the important issues
Using this guide: It is important that we all speak consistently about what the RNLI does and the topics we have been focusing on recently. This document is intended to help you respond to questions on current topics from the public or colleagues. The 2020 Loud & Clear factsheet will also help you to talk about the RNLI’s work. If you receive any direct enquiries from the media, please pass them on to the Media Engagement Team on 01202 336789 or email [email protected].
Our lifesaving services during the pandemic We provide a world-class lifesaving service and this mission has not changed during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the challenges presented to us, we are working hard to deliver the best possible lifesaving effect this summer through the combined efforts of our lifeboats, lifeguards and water safety campaigns.
As of early July, we now have lifeguard patrols on over 170 beaches, covering 70% of the beaches we would normally cover. We have overcome the challenges we faced immediately after the lockdown restrictions began to ease and feel assured that we are able to provide an effective, safe and sustainable service on even more beaches than we first hoped.
The beaches our lifeguards are patrolling this summer have been chosen based on risk and the number of people using them. We have also aimed to achieve a geographical spread and ensure those beaches not lifeguarded are close to one of our lifeboat stations. Members of the public can check our website for an up-to-date list of lifeguarded beaches.
Our lifeguard service continues to be supported by our lifeboat stations around the coast. RNLI lifeboat volunteers have been on call 24/7 to help those in trouble at sea throughout the outbreak. So far this year, lifeboat crews have launched 3,143 times, saved 95 lives and assisted 584 people in the water (stats as of mid-July 2020).
In partnership with HM Coastguard (in the UK) and the Irish Coast Guard and Gaelic Athletics Association (in Ireland), we are also working with the public to ensure the coast is a safe place to visit. Our water safety messages, specifically the #BeBeachSafe campaign, call on the public – in particular parents – to take responsibility for the safety of themselves and their families by being aware of the risks they could face when they visit the coast, follow the safety advice and in an emergency call 999 for the Coastguard.
This summer term, the team has also put together two downloadable packs of resources focusing on keeping young people and their families safe this summer. These packs are targeted at teachers, tutors and youth group leaders and have received over 2,000 downloads so far. The RNLI also created a weekly educational show, Water Safety Wednesdays, that was broadcast live via Facebook throughout April and May. Approximately 5,000 households tuned in live over the six weeks, and we reached almost 600,000 people on Facebook.
Throughout this time, the RNLI's priorities continue to be: the effective delivery of our lifesaving service; the safety and well-being of our staff and volunteers; and work towards developing a sustainable plan for the future funding of our activities. We are still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, so making sure RNLI lifeguards and lifeboat crews can operate safely with the right PPE, procedures and infrastructure in place remains a priority. We will continue to do all we can to protect the public from infection while protecting everyone from the dangers around the coast.
Author: Internal Communications Team| Department: People Date produced: 24 July 2020 | RNLI Classification: Protected
RNLI finances due to the pandemic Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we expect a 20% decline in our annual income by the end of 2020. Fundraising activities have not been able to take place, our shops have been shut and legacies (which account for over 60% of our income) are expected to fall with the slowdown in the property market and fall in the value of investments.
In the short-term, we also expect our expenditure to fall by 17%. However, many of the reductions in spending are as a result of essential changes we’ve made due to coronavirus – for example, closure of the RNLI College, reduced lifeguard cover on beaches this summer, and putting around 30% of our staff on furlough or other wage subsidy schemes. These costs will begin to rise again as we slowly start to return to ‘business as usual’ and the UK and Ireland wage subsidy schemes end. Other reductions in expenditure are as a result of decisions we have made to temporarily stop certain projects, including building works and boat construction. However, these projects cannot be postponed forever – they are vital to ensuring the future of our lifesaving service.
We know expenditure will start to increase again, but the outlook for income is currently less certain. In such unprecedented circumstances, we are proactively managing our finances to try and maintain a healthy financial position. Whilst we expect to use some of the charity’s free reserves this year (c.£27M), these reserves exist to respond to short, sharp shocks and are not a long-term solution due to their finite size. At the end of 2019, the RNLI had the equivalent of 8.5 months of annual expenditure in free reserves. Our forecasts predict that, by the end of 2020, this will have fallen to around 6.7 months. This would be moving towards the lower end of the Trustees’ requirements of 4- 10 months and, with an uncertain economic environment, the short-term financial risks on income and investments are significant. We need therefore to control our costs and manage our free reserves carefully in what is likely to be a prolonged period of financial uncertainty. We have taken the highly unusual step of arranging an overdraft facility of up to £15M, at a preferential rate, that we can access should we need to, to ease immediate pressure on our cash flow.
Our priorities remain delivering our lifesaving service, keeping our people safe and developing a sustainable plan for the future funding of our activities. To do this we will continue to focus on proactively managing our finances, controlling our expenditure, and growing our income by using new and innovative ways to fundraise.
Government funding The RNLI receives a small amount of government support for some of its activities. During the coronavirus pandemic, we decided that it was the responsible thing to do to apply for government funding available to all employers and businesses as finances have become uncertain. We are drawing on both the Furlough (UK) and Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (Ireland) allowing us to claim most of the staff costs for people whose activities have paused, while maintaining people’s jobs and avoiding any immediate redundancies or periods of unpaid leave. It also allows us to use our remaining resources – and supporters’ donations – to focus on our lifesaving service. We have also applied for business grant applications for our shops and are actively supporting calls for a Government Emergency Gift Aid Relief package. As a charity, 94% of our total income comes from donations and so our lifesaving service relies on the generosity of our supporters. The remainder comes from commercial activity and other sources.
Inclusion and diversity, including black lives matter and links to slavery For nearly 200 years, we have always rescued anyone in trouble at sea without judgement or preference; knowing that someone is in trouble and needs to be rescued is enough for us to act.
Author: Internal Communications Team| Department: People Date produced: 24 July 2020 | RNLI Classification: Protected
Every life is worth saving, every life matters. This is rooted in our lifesaving history and will never change.
But there are some things in the RNLI’s past that we are not proud of. Some individuals linked to the slave trade, as well as abolitionists, helped to establish the early RNLI. We acknowledge this part of our history but, of course, the RNLI today does not support or tolerate slavery in any way. For instance, we are committed to ensuring that modern slavery and human trafficking are not present in any RNLI supply chains. And we do not tolerate any disrespectful behaviour towards each other, supporters, or members of the public.
In the same way that the RNLI saves lives at sea without prejudice, we aspire to be an organisation where our people are valued no matter who they are. We aim to be truly inclusive, benefit from diversity and appreciate everyone for their individual contribution. In our crew, everyone should be able to be themselves and reach their full potential. We want to recruit and retain the best people and aim to be truly representative of all sections of society. We have some way to go, but are determined to improve the diversity of our people, and make sure that all parts of the RNLI are inclusive and safe places for those who have joined our cause to give something back to their communities, whoever they are and wherever they are from. We are one crew.
Migrant activity Our volunteer crews are tasked by the UK Coastguard and Irish Coast Guard to anyone who is in trouble on the water and needs our help. We do not judge a casualty on what circumstances have brought them into that situation. The current situation in the English Channel is no different. If someone is in trouble at sea, we are there to make sure they get the help they need. We are not a taxi service for illegal immigration, just as we are not a taxi service for the ill-informed or the ill- equipped anywhere else around the British and Irish coasts. We are a lifesaving rescue service and we will rescue anyone in trouble at sea, as the RNLI has been doing for nearly 200 years, without judgement or preference.
We do not operate according to a political mandate. We simply save lives at sea and the work we are doing in the Channel is humanitarian work.
Our international work The World Health Organization estimates that 320,000 people drown each year worldwide and we believe that, with others, we should use our lifesaving expertise to try and help tackle this. Our work so far has shown that simple, inexpensive solutions are very effective; a relatively low investment in overseas projects goes a long way and makes a big difference.
Our founder, Sir William Hillary, had the vision that we ‘should extend our views [of drowning prevention] from our own immediate coasts, to the most remote quarters of the globe, and to every neighbouring state’. This remains relevant today.
We currently spend less than 2% of the RNLI’s total annual expenditure on our international drowning prevention activity and we actively seek donations specifically for this work.
We are immensely proud of this essential and valuable work but recognise that not everyone who kindly supports us will share the same views. We therefore will aim for this work to be funded by donors who support our international work.
Author: Internal Communications Team| Department: People Date produced: 24 July 2020 | RNLI Classification: Protected