1992 and all that Thanks to your generous support, and that of all our other members, 1992 proved the most successful year yet for the RNLI membership scheme.

More than £3m was raised from your Shoreline and Governor subscriptions, your covenants and additional donations throughout the year.

At the end of 1991 the number of members stood at some 168,000 Shoreline and Joint Shoreline members, with 33,000 Annual and Life Governors - a grand total of 201,000 members.

However, some of these were old memberships and research showed that the actual number of current, fully paidup memberships was only 176,000. But by the end of 1992, the number of paid-up memberships had bounced back up to 205,000 - an increase in real terms of 29,000 during the year! The number of Storm Force members stands at a very respectable 15,000, and we hope these young people will go on to become ardent supporters of the RNLI in their adult years.

Subscription increase In September last year the membership subscription rates were increased for the first time since 1986. Since that time inflation had galloped away at nearly 50% and an increase was obviously needed to maintain the real value of members' contributions.

We intend to implement small, regular increases in future years, which will better enable us to keep up with rising costs and, we hope, be more helpful to you.

If you have already renewed your membership at the new rates, or have recently joined, your increased contribution is greatly appreciated. With some 5,000 lifeboat launches in 1992 - our highest ever total in a year - we need your continued membership more than ever before.

Covenants and Direct Debits Have you covenanted your subscription? We have been working hard to get the message across to all members that they really should covenant their membership subscription. By completing a couple of very simple forms you can increase the value of your subscription by one third - at no cost to yourself.

If you pay UK tax on your income, whether it be salary, savings or pension, the RNLI can benefit if you sign a covenant because it can claim back the tax you have already paid on your subscription.

The good news is that some 56,000 members have now signed a covenant, but this still leaves 149,000 members who have not. Please make sure that you have covenanted your membership, and spread the word! It really is 'free money' for the RNLI.At the moment 82,000 members pay their subscription by direct debit which, again, is so valuable to the RNLI. Paying by direct debit saves a great deal of administration expense, so we heartily encourage you to complete a direct debit form.

Please be reassured that because we can more effectively manage this type of payment, better than for example standing orders, we can provide a better service.Plastic envelopes for THE LIFEBOAT At the end of last year we tried using plastic envelopes for distributing the journal to members and other supporters.

As well as presenting the journal in a fresher way, the plastic envelopes are only one-third of the price of traditional paper envelopes and with over a million journals to distribute each year the savings to the RNLI are significant indeed.

Your support on this change has been most encouraging and as a result THE LIFEBOAT is now being despatched in 'polylopes' on a regular basis. Nearly a thousand members have written to say that they approve of the change, with less than a dozen members writing to express dissent.And into 1993...

The long awaited documentary television series on the RNLI now looks set to be shown on ITV in six, 30 minute episodes - at 7.00pm on Wednesdays starting on 28 April.

The series features the Salcombe lifeboat crew and was filmed over the past year and a half. Cameras were aboard the lifeboat for a medal-winning service, at the AGM and presentation of awards last year, and followed the coxswain and crew in the course of their day-to-day work.

The series looks set to provide the RNLI with its biggest splash of publicity in 1993, and for many a year.

We are sure you will want not to miss this series and so we hope to write to you in April with confirmation of the dates and times. Look out for this letter and have your remote control or VCR to hand! TV Commercial By the time this journal reaches you, the RNLI will have tried a fundraising television commercial for the first time. Featured on Channel 4, the commercial was produced by our advertising agency WWAV in conjunction with Space City Productions.

John Nettles, of Bergerac fame, recorded the commentary and Simon Rattle and the London Philharmonic Orchestra rearranged and provided the music.

Our thanks to them for being so professional and helpful. We are also grateful to Volvo Cars UK for their support with the first phase of the campaign.

Thanks to those involved, we have been able to keep costs to an absolute minimum and it is very much hoped that this exciting venture will prove a worthy new fundraising source for the RNLI.

Finally, the last word should go to the crew of the Mumbles lifeboat and to Oliver, the fourteen-year-old star of the commercial. From 7.00am one cold Saturday morning in January to 6.00pm on Sunday, they launched the lifeboat many times, ran up and down streets, jumped in the sea and stayed cheerful while the scenes for the commercial were filmed.

The commercial is dedicated to their commitment and enthusiasm..