This Saturday and Sunday is the SNSM weekend. The National Society of Rescuers at Sea calls for donations at the dawn of the summer season. Financial, material and human resources … the budgets of the 214 rescue stations in France are mainly financed by donations from individuals.
Ditto for the 10 SNSM stations in Corsica. They are also concerned by the renovation of fleets, as elsewhere in France. But coastal surveillance also involves training. In Prupià, the SNSM does not suffer from the volunteerism crisis, and it recruits 5 to 8 people per year. However, the training center for coastal lifeguards is looking for young Corsicans wishing to train in order to be hired by the municipalities. The center forms “only” 25 to 30 per year, while there are about a hundred positions to be filled. Difficult, in these conditions, to meet the needs of the municipalities for coastal surveillance. Reinforcements from the continent are therefore welcome, when other stations can mobilize them.
The star of Ajaccio temporarily unavailable
In addition to the arms, these are the tools that need to be funded. Taverna, the most recent resort in Corsica, (created in 2012) carries out 25 to 30 interventions a year, between the mouths of the Golu and the Tavignani. Olivier Vignon, its president explains: “As far as we are concerned, we have a second category star which is reaching the end of its life and its replacement is scheduled for 2023”. If necessary, the SNSM stations can lend each other resources. This will be the case in Ajaccio, because the station, which carries out 50 interventions each year, must for the time being do without the main boat. The replacement star will have to be picked up in Antibes next week.
This year, donations are also made online via the site https://don.snsm.org/millesnsm through a challenge for athletes. The kilometers covered by swimming or running will be transformed into euros for the SNSM, which will then redistribute in stations throughout France.
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