IT is NOW possible to become a member of the Royal National Life-boat Institution. Up to now anyone interested could become a member of a branch or guild of the R.N.L.I., a governor of the Institution, an honorary vice-president, or a member of the Yachtsmen's Life-boat Supporters' Association simply by making the necessary contribution and, in the case of branch and guild members, undertaking to work actively for the life-boat service. But there was no form of national membership.

The explanation is to be found in history. In the 1880's it was discovered that two-thirds of the regular income of the R.N.L.I, was provided by only 100 people. It was then that a revolution occurred in the R.N.L.I.'s fund-raising methods. The eventual outcome was the system of local branches and guilds, which now number about 2,000 and are to be found all over Britain and Ireland. This system of branches and guilds with their strong local roots has provided the R.N.L.I, with the consistent support it has needed over the years and has also saved the organisation from that excessive centralisation from which so many major concerns have suffered. In 1971 the branches and guilds proved their strength in a particularly spectacular manner by raising over £1 million for the first time.

The branches and guilds will continue to provide the backbone of the R.N.L.I.'s fundraising organisation. Nevertheless it is known that there are many people who would like to help the R.N.L.I. and to feel they are members of it, but who are unable to engage actively in fund-raising, either through lack of time or lack of inclination.

It is for these people that national membership is being introduced now, at a time when the R.N.L.I. needs substantially more regular revenue. Details of the new national membership scheme are given on page 372 and an order form for the insignia of the new membership group, for which the name 'shore line' is being provisionally adopted, are to be found in an insertion.

ROYAL OCCASIONS The picture on the cover shows the Queen coming ashore from the life-boat The Royal British Legion Jubilee and entering Leander Club shortly after she had named the new life-boatat Henley-on-Thames on the 17th July. The occasion was in every way a spectacular success which very large numbers found both moving and inspiring. The weather was perfect and the scene colourful. After the Chairman of the R.N.L.I., Commander F. R. H. Swann, O.B.E., R.N.V.R., had opened the proceedings by stressing the historic importance of the occasion and calling attention to the help given to the lifeboat service by members of the Royal Family ever since King George IV encouraged Lionel Lukin in his experiments, General Sir Charles Jones, G.C.B., C.B.E., M.G., President of the Royal British Legion, presented the life-boat to the Queen as Patron of the R.N.L.I. Before naming the life-boat the Queen said it was an imaginative decision to bring the life-boat up the Thames and that this was 'a recognition of the wonderful support which the Royal National Life-boat Institution receives from its inland branches as well as from the coastal towns and villages'. More pictures on page 356.

To all concerned, to the Royal British Legion, whose enterprise and generosity provided the new life-boat, to Leander Club and to Henley Royal Regatta, the Thames Conservancy, and particularly to the R.N.L.I., the whole occasion brought great satisfaction.

Another royal occasion with which the R.N.L.I. was connected occurred a few days later when the Duke of Edinburgh opened the new Neptune Room in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. The new room is a superb example of exhibition design and presentation which anyone interested in ships or boats would be well advised to visit. There is an interesting life-boat section with models covering a considerable span of years. At two of London's leading museums, the National Maritime and the Science Museum, South Kensington, there are now worthy displays of the work of the R.N.L.I.

NEW CLASS OF LIFE-BOATS The first of a new class of life-boat is now undergoing trials around Littlehampton, where she was built. This is a 37-foot 6-inch Rother class boat, which will later be stationed at Port Erin in the Isle of Man. She has been donated by Major Osman Gabriel, of Hove. The Rother life-boats differ from the 37-foot Oakley class in a number of respects. Their self-righting capacity derives entirely from the hull form, they have a wheelhouse, and they are fitted with radar. A technical description of the new class appears on page 362.

BLUE PETER BOATS Many thousands of young viewers of the BBC television programme Blue Peter were delighted to learn just before the programme went off the air in the summer that, through continued on page 372.