G o v e r n o r s • S h o r e l i n e • S t o rm F o r c e Action stations As technology continually improves, so too does the RNLI's ability to save lives at sea.

But every improvement comes at a cost.

This is why we must continually recruit new members and constantly look for more efficient ways of servicing the needs of our existing members.

For many years, the RNLI has used advertisements and leaflets in newspapers and magazines to recruit new lifeboat supporters.

These have featured coxswains, helmsmen and crew members - all of them effective, but all of them male! But there are more and more female crew members who play a vital role in lifeboat operations - and they are now also proving to be very effective in our recruitment campaigns.

This summer, Jan Goddard of Aberdovey lifeboat station and Jan Baptiste of Aberystwyth lifeboat station posed for the cameras.

The resulting 'action' photographs were used on recruitment leaflets with the headline 'We can count on her courage' and circulated with a number of national magazines.

In particular, magazines with a high female readership, forexample 'Woman andHome' and 'Country Living' were trialled with the new-look leaflets.

Results to date show our valiant ladies are as successful in attracting new members and donors as the traditional menfolk! It has even been quite a surprise to many of our recent recruits that RNLI crews have so many active female members serving in and supporting the crews.

By this means, it appears that we have been able to enhance recruitment in publications which have not previously proven successful for our purposes.

We have also been able to raise our public profile in publications with which we may not normally be associated - and that's got to be good news!A Christmas gift Each issue of THE LIFEBOAT is greeted with more and more enthusiastic comments from readers.

Real-life drama stories of lifeboat rescues and the brave endeavours of crew members are reported alongside fundraising efforts, naming ceremonies as well as many other RNLI interests in a continuous and interesting record of the Institution's work.

If you enjoy reading THE LIFEBOAT, why not recommend it to a friend? Better still, RNLI membership makes a novel and totally original Christmas gift for a friend orrelative. Give them the knowledge they are helping to save lives and give them exciting reading four times a year! See the coupon below! Postcoded apology We have recently received a number of letters from members to say that their address has been wrongly recorded. Although their postcode is correct, the postal town or county is incorrect.

This particular problem is due to difficulties with our computer, for which we apologise.

Please be assured that everything possible is being done to resolve this difficulty.

We do want to get your address right. However, the computer does get confused when the post office issues the same postcode for different towns in different counties. We are working hard on this one!Enrol a friend for Christmas and together let's save lives at sea CH I wish to make a gift of RNLI membership Your name Your membership number (N.B. You do not have to be a member yourself to make a gift of membership!) CD I wish to join the RNLI I enclose a subscription of: £ for Shoreline membership (minimum donation £6 p.a.) £ for joint Shoreline membership (min. donation for husband and wife £9 p.a.) £ for Governorship (min. donation £20 p.a.) £ for Life Governorship (once only payment of min £200) £ for Storm Force membership (under 16s, min £3 p.a.). Please attach name, date of birth and sex of child.

Name of new member: Address : ,.

Please send this form with your subscription payment to: The Director, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ.

If you do not wish to cut your journal, please copy this coupon quoting reference LBJ 1/1.

The latest date for gift memberships for Christmas is 29 November 1991.

Royal National Lifeboat Postcode..

LBJ 1/1 Institution.