Volunteer instructors with the Bristol Sea Cadets could face CAZ costs of around £1,000. That's according to the organisation's chair Tim Moran, who says instructor numbers are rapidly declining.
Now the charity, which teaches marine and boating skills to children and teens, has put out an urgent call for more volunteers in order to stay afloat.
Mr Moran said many of its instructors are retired and drive non-compliant cars. They bought diesel cars when told those were environmentally-friendly but now cost £18 per week in CAZ charges to attend the twice weekly meetings.
“If you include weekend events, our instructors face paying about £1,000 per year for driving non-compliant vehicles. That’s a very significant chunk of their pensions, it’s an outrage,” he said.
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The sea cadet syllabus, which offers a number of courses to different age groups require up to 10 instructors at each meeting. Mr Moran said: “We need an instructor for each course and historically we’ve always just got there, so this is a big shout out for more volunteers.”
He added that the park-and-ride facilities close too early for use by volunteers, parents and their children as their meetings finish at 9.30pm. The number of children attending meetings has dropped, particularly those coming from the south of Bristol.
Mr Moran said, added to the CAZ costs, were the cost of living and the rise in energy costs and that the charity's costs have tripled. He said: “For the last 10 years, we’ve operated on a budget of £20,000 to £25,000, but this year we’ve got to find £60,000. It’s a crying shame.”
A spokesperson for the council said that the government's guidance and requirements for Clean Air Zone had been followed.
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