IN HIS SPEECH to the governors of the Institution at the annual general meeting held at the Royal Festival Hall on May 12, the Duke of Atholl, chairman of the RNLI, reported that 1980 had been a year of great achievement for the RNLI, with lifeboats rescuing 1,215 people, the highest figure for five years. Commenting on the type of casualties to which lifeboats are called, he said: 'Although there has been an increase in the number of rescues from pleasure craft in recent years, the lifeboat service is as vital as always to merchant and fishing fleets. Three outstanding services, to a dredger, a trawler and a radio vessel, have earned silver medals for bravery for the coxswains from Troon, Stornoway and Sheerness and in these rescues a total of 38people were saved.' In support of the lifeboatmen, nearly one million pounds was raised for each month of 1980, almost £12 million in all.

A full report of the AGM and annual presentation of awards appears on page International co-operation Delegates from West Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United States of America attended the annual presentation of awards on May 12. Indeed, during the first half of this year the RNLI's role as permanent secretariat to the International Lifeboat Conference has been much in evidence, with visits from a number of ILC members.

An Atlantic 21 training course was held in February at Cowes for crew members from a newly formed voluntary lifeboat service in Portugal, and a delegation from Iceland's voluntary lifeboat society also expressed considerable interest in the Atlantic 21.

A party of Algerian officials studying search and rescue were much impressed when RNLI staff at Poole conducted a tour of the headquarters and depot entirely in French.

In March a 51ft Barnett class lifeboat, ON860, sold to the voluntary Chilean lifeboat society, the Cuerpo de Voluntarios de los Botes Salvavidas de Valparaiso, was shipped out from Birkenhead; when she goes on station at Valparaiso she will replace another ex-RNLl lifeboat which was sold to Chile in the early 1960s.

The RNLI is now helping the Swedish Lifeboat Society, another voluntary body, to plan the 1983 International Lifeboat Conference which will be held in Gothenburg.

Downing Street reception RNLI representatives and their wives attended a reception at 10 Downing Street on March 30 given by Mrs Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister, to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. Michael Vernon, a deputy chairman of the Institution, and Rear Admiral W. J. Graham, director, were accompanied by Coxswain Frank Bloom of Walton and Frinton, Helmsmen Paul Gilson of Southend-on-Sea, Mr J. J. Adams, station honorary secretary of Hastings, and Mr and Mrs Distill, honorary secretary and a committee member respectively of Borehamwood and Elstree branch.

Aldeburgh lifeboat appeal An appeal in Aldeburgh for funds towards the cost of a new Rother class lifeboat has raised £205,471, a cheque for which amount was handed over to Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Compston, a deputy chairman of the Institution, at Aldeburgh on May 15. The boat is to be named James Cable after the former Aldeburgh coxswain who served from 1888 to 1917 and who was awarded three silver medals for gallantry.

James Cable was the grandson ofThomas Cable, one of the lifeboatmen lost from Aldeburgh lifeboat when she capsized in 1859 and the son of another Thomas, drowned when swimming with a line to a Swedish brig aground on Orford Ness in 1855. James Cable's grand-daughter, Miss Bertha Cable, was present at the reception at Aldeburgh's Moot Hall for the presentation of the cheque for the new lifeboat; yet another example of the continuity of family tradition.

Sir Peter Compston presented framed certificates of thanks to eachmember of the appeal committee: Mr F. Wickham, Lady Harmer, Vice- Admiral Sir Charles Mills, John Studd, Alan Edwards, Mrs A. Macdowell and Mr K. C. Brown. The money was raised in a great many different ways including a number of bequests. One public house near Hitchin sent £1,200 and about £4,000 came from unwanted foreign coins handed in to East Anglian branches of Barclays Bank following a request on Anglia TV's 'Round Robin' programme; a special framed certificate was given to Christine Webber, the programme's presenter.

New Freemason lifeboat The Freemasons United Grand Lodge of England has given £300,000 to the RNLI to pay for a new 52ft Arun class lifeboat to be named Duchess of Kent.

The lifeboat is at present building at Littlehampton and her official naming is expected to take place in 1982.

Duchess of Kent will be placed in the relief fleet of the RNLI and so will be seen at different stations around the coast in her role as replacement to lifeboats away on refit.

Maritime England The English Tourist Board is mounting a special promotion in 1982 with the theme of'Maritime England'. It is helping to publicise events with a maritime theme throughout England, both on the coast and inland. The RNLI will be holding open days at Poole headquarters and depot in July 1982 and any branches and guilds with special 'Maritime England' activities planned which they would like publicised should inform the appeals secretary at head office.With regret...

It is with deep regret that we have to record the death on April 30 of Commodore Peter Kavanagh, NS, a member of the Committee of Management since 1974. Commodore Kavanagh had recently retired as head of the Irish Navy. He joined that service in 1947 following ten years at sea in the Merchant Navy. During the war three ships in which he was serving were sunk by enemy action, two within the space of eight days.

Also the death on May 2 of Jack Duvivier, Senior Partner of Lewis and Duvivier. Consulting Engineers to the RNLI. From first joining the firm, then Lewis and Lewis, in the early 1930s Mr Duvivier was deeply interested and involved in the work of the Institution.

As well as undertaking numerous upkeep and maintenance inspections throughout the UK and Ireland, he was personally concerned in the construction of station works at Shoreham, Sheringham, Tynemouth, Holyhead, Lizard-Cadgwith and Padstow..