LAST year, it will be remembered, a list was published in The lifeboat of the twenty Branches which had sent in the largest aggregate contributions, and a list of eleven Branches selected from those with large contributions per head of the population. This year the same calculations have been made, but more systematically, four lists being prepared, which are given below, one showing the twenty Branches with the highest collections, and the other three the Branches which have contributed most per head of their population, arranged in grades of population, the first being Financial Branches, the second Station Branches, and the third Pleasure and Health Resorts (other than Station Branches), which, like them, have a fluctuating population.

These fists were distributed at the Annual Meeting, and the following statement was read : The Committee have decided to publish these lists for the honour of the Branches concerned and for the emulation of other Branches, and their reasons for publishing them in four separate lists are as follows :—• (1) To publish only the names of the Branches with the largest collections would obviously be unfair to those Branches which do magnificent work in places with small populations, although their collections are small.

(2) On the other hand, to publish only a list of the leading Branches according to the contribution per head of the population would be equally unfair to the great cities like Liverpool, Man- chester, Bradford, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, South- ampton and Bristol, which year by year contribute—some of them—several thousands of pounds. For the smaller the population the easier it is to get a high collection per head.

(3) A third difficulty was found when the tables came to be compiled. Station Branches, and also many Financial Branches on the coast, have large temporary populations during the sum- mer. They therefore organize their main appeals in the summer. A con- siderable proportion of what they collect is obtained from visitors, and a calculation based on the number of their permanent population would give them an unfair advantage over inland Branches. For this reason they have been put in separate lists.

In this way the Committee feel that they have been able, without unfairness to any Branch, to call attention to those which have given the Life-boat Service the most generous support during the past year.

The Committee would like to call attention to the following salient facts in the lists.

The City of London Branch comes first with a total collection of £9,729.

But the City, with its enormous floating population, stands quite apart from the rest. Next comes Liverpool with £4,424, and the Committee would like to offer to the City of Liverpool their warmest congratulations and thanks.

Third comes Manchester and Salford with £4,234.

Last year the same three cities headed ;he list, but in a different order—Man- chester and Salford, the City of London THE 20 BRANCHES WITH THE HIGHEST COLLECTIONS, 1924-25.

Branch.

1. City of London * .

2. Liverpool & District 3. Manchester & Salford 4. Birmingham & District .

5. Glasgow 6. Bradford & District 7. Edinburgh, Leith & 8. Leeds & District Granton .

9. Southampton & District .

10. Bristol .

11. Oxford & District 12. Eastbourne * 13. Belfast Lough 14. Dublin .

15. Isle of Wight * 16. Douglas * 17. Hull & District .

18. Poole, Bournemouth, etc.* 19. Sheffield 20. Aberdeen .

fountv Population of Branch area.

London — . Lanes. 955,000 . Lanes. 1,258,854 . Warwickshire ; 919,438 . Lanark. 1,060,000 . Yorks. i 394,700 . Edinburgh 512,000 . Yorks. 600,000 . Hants 220,000 . Glos. 377,061 . Oxon. 100,000 . ; Sussex — . Antrim 515,000 . Dublin - 431,000 Hants — Isle of Man : — . Yorks. 325,000 Dorset — . Yorks. 492,724 . Aberdeen 182,453 r-.n.ii«. *•«.« Amount | Collection. i head.

£ d.

9,729 — 4,424 Ml 4,234 -80 3,174 -80 i 2,659 : -60 ! 2,526 1-53 i ,573 -73 ! ,303 -52 i ,119 1-22 ! ,095 -60 ,063 2-55 ,052 — 961 i -44 937 -52 i 868 — 847 — 714 1 -52 713 ! — 613 -29 602 -73 * Fluctuating population, so that no calculation per head is possible.

BRANCHES WITH THE HIGHEST COLLECTION PER HEAD OF THE POPULATION, ARRANGED IN GRADES OF POPULATION.

1. FINANCIAL BRANCHES.

Grade of Popu:ation.

2,500 to 5,000 5,000 to 10,000 | 10,000 to 20,000 ( t 20,000 to 40,000 J 1 f 40,000 to 100,000 [ 100,000 to 250,000 .

250,000 & upwards .

Branch. : Cullompton Henley & Shiplake ! Highgate Clitheroe & District Salisbury & District Alloa Oxford & District Luton Southampton District Bradford & District Conntv Population of Lounty. Bianch area.

' Devonshire 3,000 Oxon. 8,500 London 12,385 Lanes. 15,000 '• Wiltshire 37,000 Clackmannan 32,543 Oxon. 100,000 ; Beds. ; 57,077 Hants 220,000 Yorks. 394,700 " "ection. j £%& £ d.

79 6-35 184 | 5-21 132 2-57 151 2-45 332 2-16 237 1-75 1,063 . 2-55 451 1-89 1,119 1-22 2,526 1-53 2. STATION BRANCHES.

Up to 1,000 1,000 to 2,500 2,500 to 10,000 10,000 to 30,000 30,000 & upwards .

Porthoustock Alnmouth & Boulmer Cromer Douglas Eastbourne Cornwall ! 100 ; Northumberland 1,200 Norfolk 5,435 '• Isle of Man 26,000 ! Sussex 60,032 £ s. d.

59 11 9i 581 9 8J 405 i 1 6 900 i 8-31 1,052 4-07 3. PLEASURE AND HEALTH RESORTS (OTHER THAN STATION BRANCHES) 2,500 to 5,000 5,000 to 15,000 15,000 to 25,000 25,000 & upwards | WHICH HAVE A FLUCTUATING POPULATION.

Bude Seaford Colwyn Bay Southport Cheltenham Cornwall 3,962 Sussex 6,991 Denbighshire 18,770 i Lanes. 76,644 ', Glos. 48,444 i £ d.

121 '7-34 120 4-12 331 4-23 540 1-60 269 1-33and Liverpool. Manchester and Salford was then first, by over £5,000, with the magnificent contribution of nearly £16,000, of which over £10,000 was a special Centenary Gift, raised in three days.

Of the twenty names in this first list all, except the two last, Sheffield and Aberdeen, were among the first twenty last year.

When we turn to the lists showing the contributions per head of population, we find that four of the twenty in the list of highest collections also have— each in its own grade—the best collec- tion per head of population—namely, Bradford, Southampton, Oxford and Eastbourne.

The Committee would like particularly to congratulate among the Financial Branches Cullompton, with nearly 6|d.

per head, and Henley and Shiplake with over 5d.; among the Pleasure and Health Eesorts, Bude with over Id., and Seaford and Colwyn Bay with over id. each; among the Station Branches, Porthoustock with nearly 12s., Alnmouth and Boulmer with over 9s. Sd., and Cromer with Is. Qd.

per head.

Finally, the Committee desire to point out that England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales are all represented in these four lists, and that they show how wide- spread as well as how generous is the support which the people of Great Britain and Ireland give to the Life-boat Service..