RNLI's largest bequestThe RNLI has recently received its largest legacy ever.

The bequest is eventually expected to total some £6.5m, and will be a great help to the Institution in providing new lifeboats and shoreworks in the future.The bequest comes at a timely moment for the Institution, which has recently embarked on a plan to build nearly 90 new fast afloat boats of the Trent and Severn classes in the next 10 years, costing between £lm and £1.3m each at today's prices. A capital programme of over £100m.

The funds were left to the RNLI by Mr Roy Barker, a former Lincolnshire-based agricultural businessman who moved to Jersey some years ago.

Mr Barker was introduced to the Regional Organiser for the area and over the years they kept in contact, with Mr Barker often visiting new lifeboats when they visited Jersey on passage and on trials.

Mr Barker was a keen yachtsman, and after going aboard a new Arun class lifeboat he had a smallerboatbuilt along similar lines at lifeboatbuilders William Osborne.

The terms of the legacy mean that the funds will be invested as an endowment trust and the interest used to fund new lifeboats and new shoreworks facilities. Initially this would mean a new lifeboat every three or four years. All new boats funded from the trust will be named Roy Barker.

It is planned that the first lifeboat provided from the fund will be the new Trent class for Alderney, due to go on service in 1994.Committee of Management Several additions and changes to the RNLI's Committee of Management were announced following a meeting in July 1993.

There are three new members of the committee: Admiral Sir John Kerr.

Currently Commander-in- Chief of Naval Home Command and a Commodore of the Royal Naval Sailing Association.

Peter Nicholson. A member of the Institution's Boat and Shoreworks Committee since 1992, a qualified naval architect, Rear Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, vice chairman of the International Yacht Racing Union's Keel Boat Technical Committee and past chairman of National Boat Shows.

Mrs Valerie Strachan CB.

Chairman of the Board of HM Customs and Excise, awarded the title UK Woman of Europe for her work towards the completion of the EC single market.

The changes are: Mr David Acland. Appointed a Deputy Chairman of the RNLI, having been Treasurer since 1988. He has been a member of the Committee of Management since 1966, Deputy Treasurer from 1972 to 1988 and elected a Vice President in 1975.

Mr J. N. C. James. Appointed Treasurer, having been Deputy Treasurer since 1992, a member of the Committee of Management since 1980, a Vice President since 1989, a member of the Executive Committee since 1985 and of the Finance Committee since 1992.

Mr Roly Franks. Appointed Deputy Treasurer, served on the Finance Committee since 1985, elected to the Committee of Managementin! 987,appointedaVice President in 1989, chairman of the Boat and Shoreworks Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.

Mr James Paffett. Appointed a Vice President of the Institution, having been a member of the Committee of Management since 1984 and previously served on the Boat and Shoreworks Committee and Technical Advisory Group.Fast work nears completion In 1983 the RNLI committed itself tohavingfastlifeboatsat every station by the end of 1993, and is set to meet this formidable target when the last of the 'traditional' 8-knot lifeboats is replaced by a 17'-knot Mersey later this year.

At the time of going to press it is likely that the final launch of an 8-knot boat will be in October or November when Aldeburgh's Rather class is officially replaced by a new Mersey.

We hope to carry a report of the event in the Winter issue of THE LIFEBOAT.NEWSPOINT An unlikely trilogy Three of the items on these news pages are more closely linked than meets the eye.

First we have the news of the largest legacy ever received by the Institution - a remarkable £6.5m - then the curious photograph of the Penrhys lifeboat, and finally the news that the all-fast fleet should be a reality by November this year.

First the legacy. Although legacies sometimes appear to be received out-of-the-blue it is important to remember that someone, somewhere sowed the seeds which led that person to consider the RNLI a worthy benefactor. Was it a branch orguild official? Adoorto- door collector? A friendly welcome at a lifeboat station? It could be any or all of them, for each plays a vital part in presenting the RNLI and its work to the public.

Equally, general awareness must be raised by media coverage such as the recent series 'Lifeboat' on ITV. The lifeboat community at Salcombe relinquished its privacy to help produce a powerful profile of lifeboatmen and women which not only made peak-time television but which has led to further interest in the lifeboat service. It will not be long before the photograph on the next page makes much more sense to a very large number of people.

And the fast boats? With current figures showing that the RNLI could possibly reach a record 6,000 launches in 1993 and a comprehensive and expensive lifeboat building programme under way there is no doubt that the lifeboat service is more necessary than ever before. The Institution relies heavily on everyone who helps to support it in any way - a way which might have a knock-on effect far greater than they might imagine.Medex 93 The RNLFs 1993 Medical Exercise (Medex), held off Scarborough on 13 July examined the co-ordination of a complex search and rescue situation - with the participants kept in the dark about the actual scenario until the events unfolded.

The exercise tested the role of the 'on-scene commander' in a complex situation and assessed casualty handling, medical evacuation procedures between vessels, helicopters and other units. Lifeboats from Scarborough, Whitby and Filey took part, with the involvement of Humber Coastguard and a helicopter from RAF Leconfield.

Medex has been held annually over the past few years, on different parts of the coast and simulating various incidents.

The exercises are monitored closely by members of the RNLFs Medical and Survival Committee, composed of eminent doctors, surgeons and survival experts.Additional awards Rod James, the helmsman of Hayling Island's Atlantic 21 lifeboat, and crew members Christopher Reed and Warren Hayles have been selected to receive the 1992 Ralph Glister Award for the most meritorious service carried out by an inshore lifeboat.

Rod James will also receive the Walter and Elizabeth Groombridge Award for the most meritorious service carried out by a member of an inshore lifeboat crew.

The service, on 25 October 1992 to the yacht Donald Searle, led to Silver medals for Rod James and the helmsman of another rigid inflatable involved and Thanks on Vellums for Christopher Reed and Warren Hayles. It was reported in full in the Spring 1993 issue of THE LIFEBOAT.

The Maud Smith Award for the most outstanding act of lifesaving by a lifeboatman during 1992 has been voted to Peter Bisson, coxswain of St Peter Port's lifeboat. The award is for a service on 29 August 1992 to a 50ft yacht which resulted in Coxswain Bisson receiving the Institution's Silver Medal and Thanks on Vellums to the remainder of the crew. The service was reported in full in the Winter 92/93 issue of THE LIFEBOAT.President visits Irish stationsThe RNLI's President, HRH the Duke of Kent, was able to visit no less than seven Irish lifeboat stations during a busy two-day visit to the Republic in early July, meeting station officials, crews and families at each of them.

His Royal Highness arrived in Dublin on Wednesday 7 July to be greeted by the RNLI's Chairman, Michael Vernon, the Deputy Chairman, Clayton Love, and the Director, Brian Miles.

The first lifeboat station on the itinerary was Clogher Head where the President met Wilson Irvin, a member of the Committee of Management, Peter Bradley, Divisional Inspector of Lifeboats for Ireland, and Jimmy Kavanagh the fundraising National Organiser for the Republic. The President was able to make a short passage in the station's new Mersey class lifeboat be-fore leaving to visit Skerries lifeboat station.

At Skerries His Royal Highness was introduced to Ronnie Delany, also an Irish member of the Committee of Management, and Andrew Clift the Deputy Divisional Inspector for Ireland. The President watched the launching of Skerries' D class inflatable, before moving on to lunch at Howth Yacht Club, preceding a visit to Howth lifeboat station. A passage aboard Howth's Arun class lifeboat took him to a rendezvous in Dublin Bay with Dun Laoghaire's Waveney class lifeboat, which then took His Royal Highness to Dun Laoghaire. A dinner in Dublin gave the Duke the opportunity to meet Beth Duffin, the fundraising Regional Manager for Northern Ireland, and Irish members of the Committee of Management.

The following day the Duke visited Wicklow (where he was introduced to the technical and fundraising staff for the area and also took a trip in the station's Tyne class lifeboat), Arklow and then Courtown lifeboat stations before rounding off a busy tour with a lunch in company with representatives of Irish maritime and emergency bodies.Erratum The Editor regrets that some inaccuracies appeared in the report of His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent's address at the Annual Presentation of Awards (THE LIFEBOAT Summer '93).

While the general content of the President's address is accurate an earlier draft was used when preparing the report and some direct quotations differed from those made by The Duke at the APA.

In particular the first quotation should be read as a precis, and in his closing remarks The Duke did not refer back to the capsize of the Hartlepool lifeboat but to a recent trip aboard the new classes of lifeboat at Poole, saying: 'they are material proof that the effort and time that you give to the RNLI is exremely well invested. With such superb equipment, with the magnificent crews who operate it and with the dedicated support of thousands of voluntary workers and fundraisers we shall continue to have a service that is extremely special and of which we can all be proud.' We apologise to His Royal Highness for the errors in the report.Inshore lifeboat changes The RNLI's Executive Committee has decided that Rye Harbour lifeboat station should operate an Atlantic class rigid inflatable inshore lifeboat, subject to the provision of suitable shore facilities, replacing the C class inflatable currently stationed there • The D class lifeboats at North Sunderland, Burry Port and Horton and Port Eynon will be operational all year round with effect from July of this year..