The South Bank Meetings 1990 The Annual General Meeting and Presentation of Awards for 1989 The RNLI's 1990 Annual General meeting and Presentation of Awards, held on the South Bank in London on May 22, were again well attended by Governors and supporters from all over the country. Opening the AGM in the morning the Institution's new Chairman, Mr Michael Vernon, referred to the turn-out and paid tribute to his retired predecessor, His Grace The Duke of Atholl, who had served as Chairman for a decade.

'Thank you for coming in such large numbers to show your support to a new Chairman.

I would like you to know how very honoured I feel to have become Chairman of this great Royal National Lifeboat Institution; especially so, to be following in the distinguished footsteps of His Grace the Duke of Atholl whose able helmsmanship has steered the RNLI with colours flying to its present happy position.

I think you will all agree that there could be no finer tribute to my predecessor than the Arun class lifeboat which bears his name and which we all have the opportunity to look over today while she is moored at the Festival Pier.' Mr Vernon went on to mention the important mission which Duke of Atholl was to perform when she sailed for Dover the day after the meeting - to provide an escort for the flotilla of 'Little Ships' making a 50th anniversary return to Dunkirk to mark the historic and heroic evacuation there in 1940.

The Arun represented the Institution and marked the part played by lifeboats in the evacuation.

The lifeboat is the 46th, and last, Arun to enter service and looking back over the decade of the Duke of Atholl's stewardship of the Institution Mr Vernon reflected on the fact that the annual number of call-outs had risen from 2,600 to 4,500 and the number of lives saved by a third from 1,000 to 1,500. Since 1980 no fewer than 33 Aruns had been built, the entire requirement of 40 Tynes and 12 Bredes, not to mention the first three Merseys and scores of Atlantic 21 and D class lifeboats.

In the same period annual income to the Institution had multiplied four-fold from £10m to £40m thanks to the indefatigable fundraisers.

'It has been a momentous decade for the RNLI. And 1989 has been above average in all respects. Never before have lifeboats been called out so often: 4523 times to be precise. 1515 lives were actually saved as a result with over 700 other people landed safely from risky situations.' CONSISTENCY Statistics could only tell part of the story, the Chairman continued, and in some ways 1989 was not exceptional.

'Listen hard this afternoon to the story of how Coxswain Alan Thomas ofTenby drove his lifeboat inside the surf line off Worm's Head in an onshore gale and rain squalls to save the life of a fishing boat skipper and you will begin to understand.

Note the spirit of the long-serving fund raisers as they receive their awards and the secret of our success is revealed.

'In these respects 1989 was not so exceptional. It couldn't be. Our strength lies in our consistency.' The winter had been extraordinary for gales and floods, and where the weather was making news so too were the lifeboats. The Chairman mentioned that, although strictly a 1990 event, the greatest storm of the whole winter on January 25 caused 18 lifeboats to put to sea.

'There will always be men around our shores prepared to run such missions, it is up to us as Governors of the RNLI to ensure that they have the best possible tools for the job.' Mr Vernon went on to amplify the way in which those tools were being provided: eight new Merseys by the end of 1990; 21 of the class in service by the end of 1991; the hull part-assembly of the new Fast Afloat Boat 3 (FAB 3) prototype completed; the FAB 4 prototype soon to start taking shape in the builder's yard.

'However, take a deep breath before mention their likely cost. At current estimates a new FAB 3 is going to leave us very little change from £Jm. FAB 4, a smaller boat, will be nearer £600,000.

PERSPECTIVE To put the costs into perspective the Chairman compared the cost of a new Fast Afloat Boat with the cost of an Arun class lifeboat when they were first introduced: 'Fund raisers please take heart. If we go back to the early 1970s when the first of the Arun class were appearing on the coast, each one's cost then was a much greater proportion of the Institution's entire income than the price of a FAB 3 is against today's total amount raised.' The fleet of under 10m lifeboats had not been neglected, added Mr Vernon, pointing out that the Annual Report gave details of trials on a twin-engined D class as well as a project to experiment with a very slightly larger version of the highly successful Atlantic 21.

Recent work on new launching carriage design, electronic equipment, anchor testing, new building materials such as fibre reinforced composite, lifejackets and other protective clothing also showed how eager the Institution is to provide the best for its crews.

To enable the crews to make good use of such equipment, training is important, said the Chairman. Since last year two further milestones along this road had been reached.

One was the official opening of a new purpose- built training centre at Cowes base for Under 10m lifeboats and the other the commissioning of a new caravan, sponsored by Marks & Spencer PLC and fully equipped for first aid training, tailored to the needs of the crews, which is visiting lifeboat stations.

Referring to the co-ordination between the RNLI and other search and rescue organisations Mr Vernon added: 'This is an excellent opportunity to welcome Commander Derek Ancona who has taken over as Chief Coastguard. We are delighted to have you with us. Please convey the governors' best wishes to all our friends in the Coastguard service and thank them for their continuing co-operation.' SHOREWORKS Last year the Chairman reported on the extensive plans to bring lifeboat station buildings up to date with the boats they house and Mr Vernon was able to report that the project was progressing well. He added: However, provision does not only have to be made for existing stations. In its perpetual review of the cover it provides, the Institution occasionally uncovers changing casualty patterns and the need for a new station emerges.

'We are at the moment particularly busy in this area with new stations under evaluation atMarazion in Cornwall, and Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. Teignmouth in Devon and Courtown in the Irish Republic have been designated as new stations for an Atlantic 21 and D class respectively. Bally glass on the westcoast of Ireland has just won its spurs as a permanent lifeboat station having carried out excellent work with an Arun class in fierce Atlantic weather during their trial period.' RESERVES Turning to the accounts for 1989 Mr Vernon pointed out that the Treasurer in his statement summarised what can only be described as a healthy state of affairs. Another record income of over £44m had been achieved, with the direct efforts of fund raising keeping level with inflation and the later fruits of all the hard work, legacies, going up by 12%.

Just as it was essential to build lifeboats with that little bit extra to make them strong enough to withstand the worst imaginable conditions so it was important that the Institution had equal financial surety.

Over the past few years careful husbandry and generous support had built up useful reserves, which currently represented some 80 weeks of running costs.

Adding a note of caution the Chairman added: 'Perhaps the greatest reason for reserves is to guard against inflation. We saw in the 1970s that even the most valiant efforts of fund raisers could not keep pace with the rampant inflation of that era. In fact, we had drastically to cut our boat building programme as a result. I do not want to see the same thing happen in the 1990s. Neither do I want to see us failing to take advantage of as yet unforeseen technological advances nor being able to adjust to changing needs. In other words, we must be prepared for the unpredictable'.

There was a way in which the RNLI could help prepare for such an eventuality - by building up reserves of support to match those in cash.

'Increasing RNLI membership strikes me as being an excellent method. From such a reservoir can be drawn active fund raising volunteers,customersfor our sales company, sympathetic ears to special appeals and, when the grim reaper finally terminates membership, maybe one or two bequests.' Before closing the meeting Mr Vernon paid tribute to former and serving members of the Committee of Management who had died during the year and called for a vote adopting the accounts and the annual report, both of which were carried unanimously. THE AWARDS CEREMONY The annual presentation of awards ceremony was held, as usual, in the afternoon at the Festival Hall.

The Chairman repeated his morning greeting and thanks for the large turn-out to welcome him to his first meeting in that position and then paid tribute to the bravery of the lifeboat crews in general. Referring once again to the storms of 25 January 1990 he was able to put in perspective the conditions met by those who were to receive their bravery awards: 'The storms and flooding of last winter which scarred the landscape will have left us all with some indelible memories. On the day of the greatest storm of all, 25 January, 18 lifeboats were at sea. It is unlikely that many, if any of the men who put out that day had experienced conditions as bad before. It takes courage just to volunteer when you cannot even make out the harbour exit for breaking seas. It takes yet more courage to endure the time at sea in such weather. And still no medals were won that day.

'That is a measure of how outstanding we adjudge the services of those who are to be awarded today.

'It is something worth remembering when you consider the number of times lifeboats launched in 1989. In fact it was another record of 4,523 distress calls answered, each one taking at least some degree of courage and a high degree of skill to perform.' In human terms this meant that without those services 1,515 people would not be alive today, Mr Vernon added before reminding the audience that 1990 was the 200th anniversary of the first lifeboat - the Original.

PRINCIPLE She had been born out of a tragedy a year earlier when the Adventure was wrecked at the mouth of the Tyne and onlookers could only watch helplessly as men dropped from her rigging into the sea.

'We have come a very long way since then,' continued the Chairman, 'but the principle of our organisation is the same.

We exist to save life at sea. It is our duty to see that we have the right tools to do that job effectively, that we can react to the ever-changing casualty patterns around our shores and, whenever life is lost within our field of operation, that we examine new ways to help prevent such losses recurring.' Reporting the rapid growth of the Mersey fleet, the FAB developments and the technological advances already mentioned at the meeting of the Governors Mr Vernon sounded the same warning about inflation and ways of combating it before moving on to the main part of the ceremony.

Introducing HerRoyal Highness the Duchess of Kent the Chairman paid tribute to the hard work and enthusiasm which both she and her husband the Duke of Kent - the Institution's president - had brought to the RNLI over the years and welcomed her to the gathering of the lifeboat family.

The Duchess then presented 25 Gold Badges to dedicated fund raisers to honour their tireless work on the RNLI's behalf.

Sadly one of the awardees, Mrs Fox, had died only days before but her daughter had bravely made the journey to London to collect the award in her memory. A full list of those receiving awards is given on page 264.

Following the Gold Badges the four bravery medals were presented, each preceded by the citation for the award which, although couched in the rather formal and undramatic terms of the official reports, brought home the magnitude of the events which had unfolded during the dramatic services.

A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Alan Thomas of Tenby lifeboat and Bronze Medals to David Kennett of Yarmouth (loW) lifeboat, Coxswain Peter Race of Teesmouth lifeboat and Helmsman David Steenvoorden of Cleethorpes.

Following the presentations HRH The Duchess of Kent expressed her regrets that her husband could not be present but that his loss was her gain and that she was honoured to be able to present both the gallantry and fund raising awards.

RESOLUTION The Duchess then proposed the resolution honouring the crews and voluntary workers throughout the country, which received resounding applause from the large audience.

In proposing the vote of thanks Lt Cdr John Lunch, Vice President of the RNLI, thanked her Royal Highness for being with the lifeboat 'family' on this auspicious occasion, and for her many visits to stations around the coast in the past. Referring to the family spirit of the RNLI he added: 'In coming here today and joining us in this family gathering you have uplifted us and strengthened us in this vital family spirit. Moreover, you have made a wonderful day for all those who have come up on to this platform to receive their awards - a day I am sure they will never forget.'.