G
gemarriott
Guest
Below is a portion of a PM I sent to a friend earlier today as a response to your means test piece.
It is the convalscant issues that really rubbed me the wrong way. The RAFB have homes ideally suited to giving chronically ill and post opertaive patients a decent recovery break and they are being largely used as guest houses for the unworthy. If you know how to fill in a means test, are prepared to tell lie or two,scrounge and live off benefits no matter what your income come along free. If you are honest, frugal, able to to manage your finances or hardworking tough luck you pay and if you haven't any spare cash you don't get convalscance. I would like to see who gets convalscant care decided purely on medical grounds and service eligibility. That way every ex RAF person would get the care and treatment they needed through illnesses and operations irrespective of the financial concerns. Of course if you are sufficiently well off a voluntary scheme of donations should be promoted. Above all the scroungers would have to look elsewhere for their holidays.
I have delivered several clients to Byng house (it was doing that which finally soured my regard for the RAF charities) on several occasions and on each visit I was shocked by the conversations around the lunch table. Usually about how many times they visited, or where their next holiday abroad was going to be and how nice it was to have a couple of weeks "all in at the seaside for nowt" each year. Whilst knowing of at least 3 fellow ex RAF men and women recovering variously from cancer, heart ailments and falls bought on by old age were either too proud to be means tested or told they could have a break but would have to pay and couldn't afford it.
What I fear the charities have lost sight of is that some old people are equally adept at scrounging off the system as young people. So the honest pensioner who does his bit and fills the means test in accurately and honestly gets nowt and the scroungers get all because they know how to work the system. unfortunately there is little honour in the benevolent game.
Even after saying all that, I still pay the contributions because the genuine need is there and sometimes the genuine need is met.
It is the convalscant issues that really rubbed me the wrong way. The RAFB have homes ideally suited to giving chronically ill and post opertaive patients a decent recovery break and they are being largely used as guest houses for the unworthy. If you know how to fill in a means test, are prepared to tell lie or two,scrounge and live off benefits no matter what your income come along free. If you are honest, frugal, able to to manage your finances or hardworking tough luck you pay and if you haven't any spare cash you don't get convalscance. I would like to see who gets convalscant care decided purely on medical grounds and service eligibility. That way every ex RAF person would get the care and treatment they needed through illnesses and operations irrespective of the financial concerns. Of course if you are sufficiently well off a voluntary scheme of donations should be promoted. Above all the scroungers would have to look elsewhere for their holidays.
I have delivered several clients to Byng house (it was doing that which finally soured my regard for the RAF charities) on several occasions and on each visit I was shocked by the conversations around the lunch table. Usually about how many times they visited, or where their next holiday abroad was going to be and how nice it was to have a couple of weeks "all in at the seaside for nowt" each year. Whilst knowing of at least 3 fellow ex RAF men and women recovering variously from cancer, heart ailments and falls bought on by old age were either too proud to be means tested or told they could have a break but would have to pay and couldn't afford it.
What I fear the charities have lost sight of is that some old people are equally adept at scrounging off the system as young people. So the honest pensioner who does his bit and fills the means test in accurately and honestly gets nowt and the scroungers get all because they know how to work the system. unfortunately there is little honour in the benevolent game.
Even after saying all that, I still pay the contributions because the genuine need is there and sometimes the genuine need is met.