North-East of England, South-East of England, and North-West of England.

TEN years ago the first conference of honorary workers was held in the North of England and although the practice of holding them regularly was not estab- lished until three years later, they have proved so valuable that it has been decided to hold them in each district in every second year. This year four have been held, in the North-East of England the South-East of England, the North- West of England and London. Differ- ent methods were adopted at the first three conferences, but at each the same interest was shown and at each the delegates were officially welcomed by the Mayor of the town in which it was held.

North-East of England.

At this conference delegates from thirty branches in Yorkshire and eleven branches in adjacent counties in the Midlands district met at Hull on the 31st March. Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., chairman of the committee of manage- ment, presided, supported by Lieut. - Colonel C. R. Satterthwaite, O.B.E., secretary of the Institution, and the organizing secretaries for the North- Eastern and Midlands districts.

During the morning the delegates inspected the Humber motor life-boat City of Bradford II, which had been brought, under the charge of Coxswain Robert Cross, from its station at Spurn Point to the Victoria Pier, Hull.

Before the conference in the Council Chamber there was a luncheon in the Reception Room, at which the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Hull (Alderman and Mrs. J. M. Dossor) were present and over ninety delegates. At the conference the Lord Mayor wel- comed the delegates. Sir Godfrey Baring thanked him and the City Council, and expressed the Institution's appreciation of the generous help which the branches had again given so readily during the past year. The secretary reviewed the work that had been done by the eighty branches and guilds in Yorkshire and particularly welcomed the delegates from the Midlands, as it was the first time that workers from two districts had joined in conference.' As an experiment, no attempt was made to follow a fixed agenda and a general discussion took place. The chief points discussed were the importance of secur- ing a good annual subscription list; the difficulties in some places of obtaining permission to hold life-boat days, and in others of securing an adequate number of collectors ; the usefulness of house-to-house collections, particularly where a life-boat day had been refused ; the importance of emphasizing the low cost of administration; the value at branches on the coast of having the life-boat launched on life-boat day and, where the branch had not a life-boat, of arranging for the life-boat of the near- est station to be present.

South-East of England.

Delegates from eighteen branches attended this conference, which was held in the St. George's Hotel, Clifton- ville, Margate, on the 6th May. Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., chairman of the committee of management, presided, supported by Commander H. Strong, R.D., R.N.R., a member of the com- mittee of management, Lieut.-Colonel C. R. Satterthwaite, O.B.E., secretary of the Institution, and the district organizing secretary. Some time pre- vious to the conference eight papers, some written by honorary secretaries and some by officials of the Institution, had been circulated. They dealt with the following subjects: The constitution of an ideal branch ; difficult places ; the importance of annual subscriptions; the organization of a life-boat day; house-to-house collections ; cinema col- lections ; garden f£ tes, and carol singing, and at the conference points arising from these papers were discussed, after the chairman had thanked the delegates very cordially for their continued generous support.

An official luncheon was held at which the Right Hon. the Lord Southborough, P.C., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., K.C.S.I., a vice-president of the Insti- tution and chairman of the Civil Service Life-boat Fund, and Captain H. H. Balfour, M.C., M.P. for Thanet, were present, and at which the Mayor of Margate (Alderman F. L. Pettman) welcomed the delegates. A visit was then paid to the life-boat house. Mr.

Gomm, the honorary secretary of the Margate branch, gave a brief talk on the best ways of raising money at a boat- house and the Margate motor life-boat, The Lord Southborough, was launched.

On the following day a special life-boat service was held at Holy Trinity Church at which the vicar, the Rev. A. E. Cook, preached, and a collection was taken for the Institution.

North-West of England.

This conference was held in the Town Hall, Manchester, on the 16th May.

Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., chairman of the committee of management, pre- sided, supported by Lieut.-Colonel C. R.

Satterthwaite, O.B.E., secretary of the Institution, and the district organizing secretary. Delegates from 47 branches were present. The chairman gave a short address on the work of the Institution and congratulated the branches on their achievements during a very difficult year. The subjects dis- cussed included : Branch organization ; the value and methods of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild ; the provision by the Institution of necessary books, station- ery, Press articles, films, slides, etc.; methods of collecting, including annual subscriptions, life-boat days, and house- to-house collections, and methods of arousing and maintaining public in- terest, such as annual meetings and lectures. At the close of the conference the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Manchester (Alderman and Mrs. W.

Walker) held a reception and wel- comed the delegates.

An account of the London Conference will be given in the next issue of The Life-boat..