HM COASTGUARD are to move their headquarters from London to Poole following the move already made by the RNLI. A new central search and rescue information room will be established at the new Coastguard headquarters. These moves were announced at a press conference given by Stanley Clinton Davis, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Shipping. He also announced that the Ministry of Defence had agreed to allocate Sea King helicopters of the Royal Navy, based at Culdrose and Prestwick, for search and rescue duties.

These helicopters, which can rescue up to 12 people at a time and can hover at night under computer control, have hitherto had other priority tasks. These tasks they will continue to fulfil but they are being put on stand-by for search and rescue duties for 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

These changes are, of course, warmly welcomed by the RNLI as further examples of the increasing co-operation between the different bodies concerned with search and rescue at sea, all of which maintain their independence but work in growing harmony.

Mr Clinton Davis also announced the publication of an excellent booklet published by the Department of Trade entitled United Kingdom Marine Search and Rescue Organisation 1975 (HMSO £1.50). This explains the part played by the different organisations in search and rescue with admirable clarity.

100,000th life saved On May 28, 1975, Stuart Nixon, a 13-year-old boy from Liverpool, was rescued by the New Brighton inshore lifeboat after he had drifted out to sea in a small rubber dinghy in a force 4 to 5 wind. His was the 100,000th life to besaved since the RNLI began to keep detailed records of operational activities in the 1850s. The helmsman of the New Brighton ILB on this occasion was Bev Brown, who was recently awarded the RNLI's silver medal for gallantry; the crew member was Tony Steen.

How many of the 100,000 lives saved have been those of foreign nationals has not been established, but the figure is certainly a high one. With increased activity in British coastal waters by vessels of all nations the number is steadily growing, and the international role of the RNLI is becoming more and more important. As will be seen in the report of the 12th International Lifeboat Conference held at Helsinki, which appears on page 48, the delegates unanimously expressed the wish that the RNLI should continue to provide the central secretariat for lifeboat organisations everywhere.

International activities The international nature of the service has been emphasised by many events taking place in the last few months. In June it was agreed that the Arun lifeboat stationed at St Peter Port, Guernsey, should stand in for the French lifeboat stationed at Goury la Hague and act for her while she was undergoing survey. In July the 70'lifeboat Grace Paterson Ritchie, which is normally stationed at Kirkwall, paid a brief visit to the Faroes with the new Deputy Chairman, Lieut.-Commander P. E. C. Pickles, MBE, JP, RNVR, on board.

All expenses were met by the Faroese Government.

In May a lifeboat from Western Germany paid a visit to the Scilly Isles to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the wreck of the German vessel Schiller. Another welcome visitor from Germany was a former airman, Rudolf Graf, who was rescued during the last war by the Clovelly lifeboat after his Heinkel bomber had been shot down over the Bristol Channel. He came back to thank the former Clovelly coxswain, George Lamey. A New Zealander, William Hewlett of Auckland, also recently recognised a service by an RNLI lifeboat during the last war by sending a donation.

Recent visitors to the Institution's Headquarters at Poole have included a Swedish Government Search and Rescue delegation headed by Bjorn Bergh; Admiral Sargent of the US Coast Guard; T. Nishida, representing the Japanese lifeboat Institution; N. Lishman, founder of the Bermuda Search and Rescue Committee; and Dr Nexih H.

Neyzi, Director-General of the Turkish Maritime Bank, which finances andcontrols the lifeboat service in Turkey.

With the exception of Admiral Sargent, who was visiting this country in connection with his election as an honorary life governor, all the other delegates were interested in obtaining advice and information concerning the RNLI.

To mark the 35th anniversary of the evacuation from Dunkirk a lifeboat of the Waveney class formed part of the flotilla which visited Dunkirk from May 23 to 25. The opportunity was taken to familiarise members of the Ramsgate crew with a boat of this class, one of which will shortly be stationed there.

The new Chairman Leading the RNLI's delegation to the 12th International Lifeboat Conference was one of the last tasks undertaken by Commander F. R. H. Swann, CBE, RNVR, as Chairman of the RNLI, In recognition of the outstanding services which he has rendered since joining the Committee of Management in 1953 it was decided that the new Waveney lifeboat to be stationed at Ramsgateshould be named Ralph and Joy Swann.

The new Chairman is Major-General R. H. Farrant, CB, who has been a Deputy Chairman of the Institution since 1972. He has much practical knowledge of small boat design and has been particularly involved in the development of the RNLI's new fast lifeboats.

Among the posts he has held has been that of Chairman of the Royal Yachting Association's Olympic Committee.

Lieut.-Commander P. E. C. Pickles joins the Duke of Atholl as one of the two Deputy Chairmen. He has long experience of voluntary work for the RNLI and was Chairman of its Scarborough branch for many years.

Prince of Wales's tribute Much interest was aroused by the Prince of Wales's speech in the House of Lords on June 25, when he made a spirited and eloquent plea for more opportunities for the young to be involved in voluntary work. An outstandingly successful example of this which he cited was the United World College at St Donat's Castle in SouthWales, generally known as Atlantic College, where the pupils have operated a rescue service, including an ILB, for some years. The Prince of Wales also paid a warm tribute to the work of the RNLI generally, adding: 'I urge on them the importance of involving as many young people as possible in their work to capture their enthusiasm and sense of adventure.' Life savings for the RNLI An elderly lady recently called at the Ebury Street Offices of the RNLI with £100 in cash. She asked for her name not to be disclosed and then explained that the sum represented the life savings of her husband and herself. Her husband was now bedridden and she herself could hardly see. They would, she said, soon be 'accommodated by the State'.

The couple had spent their last holiday in Cromer, where they had been so impressed by the selflessness of the crew and the speed at which they put to sea to save life that they wanted all their savings to go to the RNLI..