The Royal National Lifeboat Institution says it has seen a surge in donations after newspaper reports highlighted that it is helping to save people from drowning abroad.
The Daily Mail and The Times both reported that the charity was funnelling millions of pounds to overseas projects despite making staff cuts in the UK, prompting a debate on charity spending.
The Times headlined its article: “RNLI funding burkinis for Africans while cutting jobs” and the Daily Mail complained that funds were being “spent abroad” including aid for “Tanzania swimmers and creches in Bangladesh”.
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The news caused an outcry among some Twitter users. One wrote: “It’s unacceptable. We do not donate for this. You’re not an overseas organisation. You’re British, Royal and National, it’s in your title.”
Another protested: “It’s an absolute disgrace. I will never donate another penny to you.”
The charity said that though the UK remained its priority, it is proud to use its “expertise, knowledge and influence to help others save lives across the world”.
Metro pointed out that less than two per cent of the charity’s budget is spent on overseas projects and claimed that those objecting to the spending were “racists”.
Social media then saw a surge of support for the RNLI, with people donating money to show their endorsement of the charity’s work in Africa and Asia, and in defiance of the newspapers and individuals who had criticised it.
One tweeter wrote to the charity: “Have just sent a donation because a life is a life, wherever it exists. No doubt your overseas work also generates a lot of goodwill for Britain, something the racist headbangers don’t understand!”
The Guardian reports that one donor said he had struggled to donate because the RNLI site had crashed under the sheer weight of online traffic. Others set up direct debits to support the work of the charity overseas.
The RNLI tweeted: “Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support and made donations to us over the past 24 hours – we simply couldn’t save lives without our amazing supporters.”
