ONE SUNDAY in July I had the great pleasure of meeting lifeboatmen from Blyth, the station on the north east coast of England for which the Rother lifeboat being funded by the Shoreline appeal is destined. Motor Mechanic Colin Cutherbertson, Assistant Mechanic John Scott and Crew Members George Turner, Tom Moss, Dallas Taylor and Les Fay. They had come down to Dorset to go out with Coxswain Ron Hardy and some of his crew in Swanage's 37ft 6in Rother J.

Reginald Corah. For the Blyth lifeboatmen it was their first introduction to the class of lifeboat they will be manning in the future and after an hour or two at sea they came back very happy with all they had seen.

* * * As you know, the future RNLB Shoreline is building at William Osbornes of Littlehampton. Now, the senior boatbuilder working on her, Bob Silverson, is leader of the Fifth Littlehampton Sea Scout Troop and so, as you can imagine, we were delighted from every point of view to welcome this Troop to group Shoreline membership a few months ago.

* * * Bristol branch of the Navigator and General Insurance Company is giving wonderful support to Shoreline. As well as keeping membership forms on its reception desk for anyone calling in to take (and many people do take them) a Shoreline leaflet is put in with every new policy sent out to clients. This insurance office also collects its best used stamps for the RNLI, bringing in about 1,000 to our Bristol office each week. Such positive help is of the greatest encouragement—thank you Navigator! * * * Last quarter I handed this page over to Linda who took you on a conducted tour of Shoreline office. Now, I am going to pass over to Peggy who will tell you about her work as correspondence clerk in a little more detail.—PETER HOLNESS, membership secretary, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 I HZ (Tel. Poole 71133).

* * * Dear Shoreline Members, This is surely how I must start as this is the way that I have opened the many hundreds of letters, in your own names of course, that it has been my lot, and pleasure, to write to so many of you during my five years as correspondence clerk in the Shoreline membership office.

How different it seems, and yet in some ways how very much the same, since those early days when this scheme was not much more than a gleam in someone's eye. The birth of Shoreline itself was in October 1972 having come out of the original YLA (Yachtsmens Lifeboat Association) to which, of course, many of our present-day members belonged.

The difference I mentioned above was more connected with the furnishings, so to speak, rather than the nature of the scheme itself. I had the good fortune to join the fund-raising section very soon after the Institution moved its headquarters from London to Poole and had settled temporarily into small and rather makeshift premises on the quay. There it fell to my lot to take on, almost single-handed, the initial reception of new Shoreline members. Such simple beginnings they were: eagerly counting the day's total of people who were responding so quickly to this new appeal. Then entering their names and numbers in our first hardbacked membership book, and finally writing by hand all their receipts. I remember now the thrill of reaching that milestone when we really had enrolled 100 new members in a week! Well, we have come a long way since then and although almost all of the handwritten work has now been transferred to computers we can—praise be it!—not computerise letters yet.

The sameness that has continued to this day is the quick response to every further appeal, the enthusiastic and genuine wish to ensure the Institution's well being by both Shoreline members and by all those whose names have found their way into our records.

In 1975 we were able to move into our new purpose-built premises and to join forces with the 'mechanical' section of Shoreline that had previously operated from Salisbury. Since then, with the computer taking on the recording, the numbering, and the issuing of membership cards and receipts my continued on opposite page Shoreline from opposite page time and efforts have been given over almost entirely to letterwriting. There must be many who are reading this journal to whom I have had the occasion to write, perhaps more than once, and may I say how much pleasure this has always given me? I feel that I have acquired a veritable legion of unseen friends! There has been, needless to say, a huge and interesting variety of membership enrolments, so many of whom have written letters rather than make formal application. We have had people in their 80s and 90s wishing for life membership, and at the other end of the scale are babies who have been recorded—for life—by their parents or grandparents. In between we have enrolled into various categories ships and their captains, classes of schoolchildren, clubs, pubs, show-biz folk, companies and their directors, sailors on the high seas—in fact all sorts of people in all walks of life have written all kinds of letters, but all with one clear message coming through, their eagerness to help.

We have our sad moments, too, when very recently bereaved relatives write to ask whether they can take over the membership of the one that they have just lost. That they can still think of our needs at a time of suffering their own grief we find most touching. So, indeed, are the letters written in such shaky handwriting by the aged and gentle OAPs who tell us that in spite of their increasing difficulty in making the pennies go round they will continue to renew their memberships for as long as they are able. Then there are the many who are suffering ill-health or infirmity but still manage to write us a kind and sympathetic letter and support our work in as generous a way as they are able.

All this, then, with the amount of human warmth that emanates from your letters makes my job as correspondence clerk a heart-warming and satisfying occupation and I look forward to many more years of enjoying this pleasure.

While there are still a vast number of our members to whom we continue to write personal letters, and always will, many of you will notice that more and more standard, or printed, letters are now coming to you. We put off the day for as long as we were physically able to type every one personally, but pure weight of numbers and the ever-rising costs of manpower have taken over and we only hope that you will appreciate that our sentiments are still as genuine even though it is now only possible to 'top and tail' our letters of thanks.

In having been given the privilege of writing this article I have, quite understandably I think, touched upon the particularly human side of our Shoreline membership scheme, but then isn't that what a charity like ours is basically all about? For those of you who hunger for more active news there will no doubt be plenty to come.

I have written some pretty long letters at times but I think this one makes a record! It has been nice writing to you all at once and no doubt many of you will be hearing from me again at some time, but in the meantime may I express as always our very best wishes and end with what is surely the fitting conclusion? Yours sincerely,.