Official visits The RNLI was host to several visitors in the early part of 1990, each with a different interest in the Institution and its work.

On 24 January Patrick McLoughlin MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, toured the operations, technical and fund raising departments as well as visiting the training centre, depot workshops and stores. He was accompanied by Mr Hugh Wenban Smith, Under Secretary Marine Directorate, and Capt W. H. H. MacCloud QBE, RN (RFTD), Director of Marine Emergency Operations.

On the same day Mr Eamonn Doherty, Chairman of the Review Group on Air and Sea Rescue Services in the Republic of Ireland and MrNiall McCutcheon, Secretary of the group and Chairman of the Irish Government Search and Rescue Committee, also visited the RNLI headquarters. They too visited the operations, technical and fund raising departments before moving on to the depot, training and fundraising support sections.

The recently-appointed Secretary-General to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Mr William O'Neil, took the oportunitiy of taking a similar look at the Institution's functions on his visit to Poole on 8 March.

Mr O'Neill was also able to go afloat aboard a new 52ft Arun, The Duke ofAtholl, which will shortly join the RNLI's relief fleet.

Mr O'Neill has been Canada's representative on the council since 1972 and was chairman from 1972 to 1989. The IMO is the only United Nations organisation with its headquarters in London and deals with maritime affairs including safety, pollution, training and legal matters.

The RNLI represents the International Lifeboat Federation, which has consultative status at IMO. AGM Guest of honour The guest of honour at the 1990 annual presentation of awards at the Royal Festival Hall will be HRH The Duchess of Kent.

The ceremony takes place on Tuesday 22 May at the Festival Hall London, starting at 1430, where The Duchess of Kent will present bravery awards to lifeboatmen and other awards to long-serving voluntary workers. Newspoint Storms, and yet more storms In the previous issue, a mere three months past, we were looking back on a summer of generally quiet weather... a memory which has been shattered by one of the windiest starts to a year on record.

Hurricane-force winds became, if not commonplace, at least regular features of the weather forecasts and they brought with them disasters on land as well as at sea.

It is unusual for such strong winds to be experienced inland, and they have served to bring home to everyone the conditions experienced by our lifeboat crews - whose courage is reflected in the large number of bravery awards recorded in this issue.

The disastrous flooding on the North Wales coast also brought the RNLI's activities into national focus, with three inflatable lifeboats in action for many days. This time they were often some miles inland, but their crews still faced hardship and danger to help others in trouble. Museum closed Construction work on the new building Poole headquarters has meant that the museum display has had to be dismantled, and is no longer available to visitors.

Arrangements will be made to reinstate the museum when the additional building completed early in 1991.

As mentioned in the previous issue of THE LIFEBOAT the Open Days which would normally have been held in 1990 have also been postponed for the same reason. Whitby's horror story Count Dracula has turned over a new leaf and is now helping to save lives! His new image coincides with the fourth anniversay of the opening of Whitby's Dracula Experience tourist attraction, which is situated alongside the lifeboat's mooring.

Castlegate Exhibitions, which runs the attraction, has decided to donate 5p from the sale of every one of their guide books to Whitby lifeboat - and as they have printed 40,000 copies for the 1990 season the station is keeping its collective fingers crossed for a good summer! Mersey helps RNLI to success at 1990 London Boat Show The 1990 London Boat Show proved to be another successful event for the RNLI, undoubtedly helped by the display of a new Mersey class lifeboat - the first time an all-weather lifeboat had been at Earls Court since 1984. Almost £ 157,000 had been added to the Institution's funds by the close of the ten-day show.

Plans to display the lifeboat on the latest carriage had to be abandoned at very short notice when Earls Court staff discovered that the floor of the hall was too weak to take the combined weight! Tremendous efforts were needed by the boatbuilders, contractors and RNLI staff to design and build a suitable cradle and transport it to the show in time.

Space for the brand new Mersey, Doris M. Mann of Ampthill, due to be stationed at Wells later this year, was donated by the show organisers, and lifeboat builders FBM Marine transported the boat from the Isle of Wight to London free of charge.

Crews from Wells, Bridlington and Hastings were available throughout the show to answer questions on the boat and her operation.

Although there was a small drop in the number of visitors to the show as a whole the Institution's stand seemed busier than ever, with a constant flow of members, crews, guests and souvenir customers.

New members totalled 1,254 (an 8 per cent increase on 1989) and 165 Storm Force members were enrolled (110 per cent up on 1989). Souvenir sales were up by more than £2.000 and six indefatigable Chelsea Pensioners persuaded visitors to put an astonishing £6,292 in their collecting boxes.

Several presentations were made during the show with The Royal Bank of Scotland handing over a cheque for more than £45,500 from its Access card promotion and Barclaycard handing over more than £52,000 from its Profile scheme.

Several high-profile events were held on the central feature pool including the presentation of the Institution's Public Relations Awards by broadcaster Raymond Baxter, chairman of the RNLl's Public Relations Committee.

Four awards were made this year, including one to National Boat Shows, who have donated space to the RNLI at the London Boat Show for many years, and who were able to find room for the Mersey class despite a shortage of space at the exhibition.

Professional photographer Campbell MacCallum received his award in recognition of the photographs which he has taken on behalf of the Institution, and Hugh McGrattan, editor of the Northern Newspaper Group, received his for work in publicising the RNLI in Northern Ireland.

Perhaps the most unusual effort recognised was Irish songwriter Phil Coulter's work with the Institution, which included organising a concert and writing a song about lifeboatmen, 'Home from the Sea', which reached number four in the Irish charts! End of the Arun era at Littlehampton An era came to an end at Littlehampton on Tuesday, 13 February when the last of the Arun class lifeboats to be built for the RNLI was handed over at boatbuilders William Osborne.

The company built the first boat of the class back in 1971, and since then 25 of the 46 Aruns in service have been built or fitted out by the yard on the banks of the River Arun, which gave the class its name.

With their 18 knot-plus speed the Aruns were the fastest RNLI lifeboats when they were introduced, and they are likely to stay in service with the RNLI for up to 20 years before being replaced with the 25 knot Fast Afloat Boat (FAB) 3 and FAB 4 which are now under development.

The Arun class also has the distinction of being the first lifeboat to win a Design Council Award (in 1982) and was the first RNLI lifeboat to be built in glass reinforced plastic (GRP).

The final Arun, ON 1160, The Duke of Atholl will serve in the relief fleet.

To mark the occasion David Hudson, the RNLI' s chief technical officer, presented Mr William Osborne, whose father started the boatyard bearing his name, with a commemorative plaque Long Service Awards The Long Service Badge for crew members and shore helpers who have given active service for 20 years or more has been awarded to: Angle - Mechanic M. Eynon, Winchman A.L. Roach Arklow - Coxswain S. Dixon, Mechanic C.

Gaffney, Emergency Mechanic G. White Harwich - Crew Member P.E. Brand Lerwick — Crew Member T. Nicolson, Longhope-Coxswain J.W. Budge, Second Coxswain W.S. Mowat, Crew Member J.

Mowat Lyme Regis - Crew Member J.L. Hodder NEWS IN BRIEF • Rye Harbour lifeboat station has been awarded a vellum in recognition of 150 years total service. The station was first opened in 1803 and although closed in 1928 it was re-established in 1966. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Committee of Management on 22 November 1989.

• The winner of the Royal Bank of Scotland draw, for all holders of RNLI affinity Access cards at 30 November 1989, was Mr. D. Beech of Lightwater Surrey. Consolation prizes went to Mr D.

Evans of Huddersfield and Mrs S.

Johnstone of Liverpool.

• Every lifeboat station has now received bottles of whisky from American supporter J. P. Young, and a 'second lap" started in January 1990. Stations from Swanage to Dover received six bottles of Famous Grouse as their second helping and others will follow from the yearly contribution from Mr Young..