Air Ambulance Issues Plea For Scamera Cash
Discussion
[quote=The Hexham Courant]The chief executive of the Great North Air Ambulance is asking that 30% of revenue from speed cameras be diverted to the service.
In a letter to the Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership, the air ambulance's Grahame Pickering wrote that revenue from speed cameras could be a way to help the cash-strapped service get its helicopters back in the air.
The service is two weeks into a major fund-raising drive, which was sparked by a falling off of donations following the tsunami appeal earlier in the year, which led to two of its helicopters being grounded.
In his letter to the NSCP, Mr Pickering wrote: "To maintain and develop an air ambulance service requires regular sustainable income in support of public donations. To some extent this has been achieved with public giving campaigns and our own trading company.
"However, despite these best efforts, a short fall exists which prevents the delivery of a consistent service. There is a way however to address this shortfall that is both related and acceptable to the vast majority of the genral public.
"Over the last few months I have discussed with a number of agencies and individuals the logic of the air ambulance receiving a proportion of the monies generated from road safety cameras.
Last year alone, across the nothern region the three helicopters of the Great North Air Ambulance attended 1.400 incidents of which approximately 40% were road traffic ralated, most of which would have involved excessive speed.
"I therefore propose that in support of public donations the GNAA receives 30% of the revenue generated from speed cameras from within the region it serves."
A spokeswoman for the NSCP responded: "It is not our decisions what is done with the left over money. It goes from magistrates' court straight to the Treasury and from there to the local councils which are members of the partnership.
"We don't see the money at all. The GNAAS would have to go through the Treasury of the Department for Transport with its request.
"But we do control our advertising money, so if the GNAA could put our logo somewhere we could give it funds for that.
"We have gone to it with this solution and will have to see that comes of it."
Speaking avbout the solution being put forward by the NSCP, a spokeswoman for the GNAA said that it was a fantastic idea and very positive.
"We are now looking at how we can get its logo onto out helicopters or leaflets." she said.[/quote]
SO, the BNAA asks for money from speed cameras to help it keep choppers in the air. The NSCP says NO FUCKING WAY unless you spread our propoganda.
If the SCPs can write off their costs against revenue, why can't the NSCP write off its donations to the GNAA as a cost of saving people's lives? It would be a much more effective tool at reducing deaths than a few stickers saying "Speed Kills".
This bit of the letter was interesting though
[quote=Grahame Pickering]40% of which were road traffic related, most of which would have involoved excessice speed[/quote]
1) How the chuff does he know?
2) Good on him for using SCP spin against the SCP to try and gets its cash for a good purpose.
3) Shouldn't the local rag have checked whether this statement was true before publishing it?
In a letter to the Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership, the air ambulance's Grahame Pickering wrote that revenue from speed cameras could be a way to help the cash-strapped service get its helicopters back in the air.
The service is two weeks into a major fund-raising drive, which was sparked by a falling off of donations following the tsunami appeal earlier in the year, which led to two of its helicopters being grounded.
In his letter to the NSCP, Mr Pickering wrote: "To maintain and develop an air ambulance service requires regular sustainable income in support of public donations. To some extent this has been achieved with public giving campaigns and our own trading company.
"However, despite these best efforts, a short fall exists which prevents the delivery of a consistent service. There is a way however to address this shortfall that is both related and acceptable to the vast majority of the genral public.
"Over the last few months I have discussed with a number of agencies and individuals the logic of the air ambulance receiving a proportion of the monies generated from road safety cameras.
Last year alone, across the nothern region the three helicopters of the Great North Air Ambulance attended 1.400 incidents of which approximately 40% were road traffic ralated, most of which would have involved excessive speed.
"I therefore propose that in support of public donations the GNAA receives 30% of the revenue generated from speed cameras from within the region it serves."
A spokeswoman for the NSCP responded: "It is not our decisions what is done with the left over money. It goes from magistrates' court straight to the Treasury and from there to the local councils which are members of the partnership.
"We don't see the money at all. The GNAAS would have to go through the Treasury of the Department for Transport with its request.
"But we do control our advertising money, so if the GNAA could put our logo somewhere we could give it funds for that.
"We have gone to it with this solution and will have to see that comes of it."
Speaking avbout the solution being put forward by the NSCP, a spokeswoman for the GNAA said that it was a fantastic idea and very positive.
"We are now looking at how we can get its logo onto out helicopters or leaflets." she said.[/quote]
SO, the BNAA asks for money from speed cameras to help it keep choppers in the air. The NSCP says NO FUCKING WAY unless you spread our propoganda.
If the SCPs can write off their costs against revenue, why can't the NSCP write off its donations to the GNAA as a cost of saving people's lives? It would be a much more effective tool at reducing deaths than a few stickers saying "Speed Kills".
This bit of the letter was interesting though
[quote=Grahame Pickering]40% of which were road traffic related, most of which would have involoved excessice speed[/quote]
1) How the chuff does he know?
2) Good on him for using SCP spin against the SCP to try and gets its cash for a good purpose.
3) Shouldn't the local rag have checked whether this statement was true before publishing it?
I always argue that it is totally scandalous that air ambulances are funded, in the main, from charitable donations. I never pass an air ambulance tin without dropping a few quid in.
Equally one could argue the same about sea rescue services but there is a very clear reason why the RNLI operates like this, i.e. keeping HM Govt sticky finger influences well away.
Funnily enough, I would be far happier with money from the National Lottery going to such causes as air ambulances, rather than the schemes that Gordon Brown increasingly has his mitts on.
The only place the "It could be you" finger points is No11 Downing Street, in which case it is more like "It IS you!"
Interestingly all the job adverts from our local scamership make much of the newly refurbished offices, latest IT equipment and all the other stuff rest of us dream about.
>> Edited by Flat in Fifth on Friday 17th June 12:47
Equally one could argue the same about sea rescue services but there is a very clear reason why the RNLI operates like this, i.e. keeping HM Govt sticky finger influences well away.
Funnily enough, I would be far happier with money from the National Lottery going to such causes as air ambulances, rather than the schemes that Gordon Brown increasingly has his mitts on.
The only place the "It could be you" finger points is No11 Downing Street, in which case it is more like "It IS you!"
Interestingly all the job adverts from our local scamership make much of the newly refurbished offices, latest IT equipment and all the other stuff rest of us dream about.
>> Edited by Flat in Fifth on Friday 17th June 12:47
[quote]Funnily enough, I would be far happier with money from the National Lottery going to such causes as air ambulances, rather than the schemes that Gordon Brown increasingly has his mitts on. [/quote]
It'd be the death of all those one-armed-Uzbekestani-lesbian-wheelchair-bound-ballet clubs...
It'd be the death of all those one-armed-Uzbekestani-lesbian-wheelchair-bound-ballet clubs...
article said:What I always knew, but never had proof of...
A spokeswoman for the NSCP responded: "It is not our decisions what is done with the left over money. It goes from magistrates' court straight to the Treasury and from there to the local councils which are members of the partnership.
Scameraships are part of the great local council inefficiency and robbery system...
My local Scumera Partnership makes it clear who is in:
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/A614D6D47B52100E80256F6D003CE46B
It includes police, Warks CC, Highways Agency and -- the one I always find most concerning -- the magistrates.
How can magistrates be part of the Partnership? Surely that's judge and jury? They have a vested interest in obtaining prosecutions by being part of this, don't they?
Edited to say: can you imagine what would happen if the air ambulance was funded by speeding motorists? Speed limits would be enforced with even less tolerance, on the basis that, "we all want to see the air ambulance funded to save dying children".
>> Edited by Peter Ward on Friday 17th June 14:08
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/A614D6D47B52100E80256F6D003CE46B
It includes police, Warks CC, Highways Agency and -- the one I always find most concerning -- the magistrates.
How can magistrates be part of the Partnership? Surely that's judge and jury? They have a vested interest in obtaining prosecutions by being part of this, don't they?
Edited to say: can you imagine what would happen if the air ambulance was funded by speeding motorists? Speed limits would be enforced with even less tolerance, on the basis that, "we all want to see the air ambulance funded to save dying children".
>> Edited by Peter Ward on Friday 17th June 14:08
In effect though, the NHS are only part of the picture for emotional effect. The magistrates are only there because they are part of the processing.
The police are part of it because they have to be (and rank and file don't seem to like this...). Without the police involvement the project couldn't work.
This leaves everything pointing to the councils as the source of all this misery. And they are no doubt being driven by government targets and directives - all fueled by a left wing anti-car agenda.
It's the councils who decide where the cameras go, it's the councils who are responsible for local road safety.
It's the councils who have successfully distanced themselves most from this whole thing...
The police are part of it because they have to be (and rank and file don't seem to like this...). Without the police involvement the project couldn't work.
This leaves everything pointing to the councils as the source of all this misery. And they are no doubt being driven by government targets and directives - all fueled by a left wing anti-car agenda.
It's the councils who decide where the cameras go, it's the councils who are responsible for local road safety.
It's the councils who have successfully distanced themselves most from this whole thing...
You'll see from this earlier thread that our scamera scamps have a similar structure
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=10&h=&t=184763
On that thread the reason for the magistrates court involvement was to do with the ticketing clerks.
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=10&h=&t=184763
On that thread the reason for the magistrates court involvement was to do with the ticketing clerks.
Flat in Fifth said:
If the air ambulance service starts taking scameraship blood money then ill never donate a dammed penny to them ever again and ill tell them why.
Its their bollox on the block.
Actually deltaf, seconded.
FiF
If I knew for sure that the full income from all scameras was to be channeled into essential 'auxiliary' emergency services (RNLI, air ambulance etc.) then fine. In reality... thirded.
scrivs said:
deltafox said:
If the air ambulance service starts taking scameraship blood money then ill never donate a dammed penny to them ever again and ill tell them why.
Its their bollox on the block.
Actually deltaf, seconded.
FiF
If I knew for sure that the full income from all scameras was to be channeled into essential 'auxiliary' emergency services (RNLI, air ambulance etc.) then fine. In reality... thirded.
Too bl00dy right. The whole thing seems to be corrupt.
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