St. Albans Answers the Challenge.

IN the last issue of The Lifeboat we gave the Southport Branch's record of mayoral help. The Mayor, during his term of office, serves as a member of the Branch Committee, while the Mayoress is President of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild. It is their invariable practice to continue to take a practical interest in the Branch when their year of office is over, and at Life-boat Day, held on 22nd June last, the Branch not only had the active help of the present Mayor and Mayoress, but had no fewer than five ex-Mayors and five ex-Mayoresses engaged either in collecting in the streets or counting money in the Town Hall.

We asked if any other Branches could equal or beat this record, and the challenge has been taken up by St. Albans. Its record is as fol- lows :— Since the Branch was re-organised in 1921 its Chairman has been the Mayor in office, while each year the Mayoress has organised the chief depot, at the Town Hall, on Life-boat Day. For the past five years both the Mayors and Mayoresses have, on leaving office, con- tinued to be active members of the Branch Committee, and at Life-boat Day, on 21st September, the helpers in- cluded the Mayor and Mayoress, six ex- Mayors (one of whom, the President of the Branch, travelled up from Wales specially for the Day), four ex- Mayoresses and the Town Clerk.

St. Albans has equalled Southport's record. Does any other Branch take up the challenge ?.