NEWSPOINT Few can complain at the amount of exposure the Institution has received on television recently.

Hardly had the Salcombe- Dased documentary left our TV screens than BBC's 'Blue Peter' took up the cudgels; and even before that suc- ;essf ul appeal had ended the drama The Lifeboat' kept up awareness ably supported by reconstructions of service on almost every episode of '999'.

There can be little doubt that television publicity is self sustaining! What has been particuarly interesting over the past few weeks has been the conrast between '999' and The Lifeboat' - one reconstructng real-life events and the other with its imaginary events against a lifeboat background.

The contrast between the quiet understatement of the real coxswains and the dramas surrounding the fictional Penrys lifeboat station and crew is marked, yet both are equally important in keeping :he word 'Lifeboat' in the :orefront of the public mind.

Without awareness there can be no funds, and without unds there can be no lifeboats.

The RNLI co-operated in :he making of both series alhough in the drama the main concern was to ensure as accurate a portrayal as possible of the RNLI in action.

Surprisingly perhaps there are those who seem to think hat the incidents are real, or hatthe RNLI wrote the scripts - to the extent that the Public Relations office braces itself or a busy Thursday when a ictitious shore helper murders his fictitious wife before letting out on a fictitious lifeboat on a Wednesday evening! The series is to lifeboats /vhat 'London's Burning' is to he fire service - an exciting invironment in which to set a drama series. It can only do good in making more people awareof the Institution's work - and is well worth the busy phones on Thursday! iRoyal visits On the LLeyn...

Over a period of two days in April HRH the Duchess of Kent visited the four lifeboat stations on the Lleyn Peninsual - Absersoch, Pwllheli, Porthdinllaen and Criccieth and attended a coffee morning with the ladies' guild.

On Tuesday 19 April the Duchess arrived by helicopter and was greeted by the Lord Lieutenant for Gwynedd, Mr Meurig Rees. She went to the station at Abersoch, which is still under construction, and met the lifeboat crew, wives and children and representatives from the station branch committee and ladies' guild.

The Duchess then moved on to Pwllheli and again met crew, wives, station branch committee and representatives of the ladies'and representatives of the ladies' guild and had lunch in the new crew room. She then went for a short trip around the area on the Mersey class lifeboat and then moved on to Porthdinllaen lifeboat station where again she met the station personnel.

The following day she visited Criccieth lifeboat station and inspected the newly extended lifeboat house and souvenir shop after which she met the 80 members of the South Caernarfonshire ladies' guild at a coffee morning at the Mynydd Ednyfed Hotel.

(Top) HRH The Duchess of Kent talks to crew and station personnel at Pwllheli lifeboat station during her tour.

Photo Peter Westley Photography ...and in the Scillies While visiting the Scilly Isles in March to open the new airport the Duchess of Kent found time to visit St Mary's lifeboat station - a planned visit last September having to be cancelled at the last minute as the island was shrouded in fog.

After being introduced to the crew and their wives and partners, the station committee and the ladies' guild committee the Duchess then boarded the lifeboat which took her to St Agnes, where she carried out an engagement.

She later returned to St Mary's by lifeboat.Agency status for Coastguard Her Majesty's Coastguard has long had the responsibility for co-ordinating civil maritime search and rescue around the coast of the UK, with the RNLI's fleet of lifeboats just one of the operational assets available to it. Other resources it can call on include its own helicopters and those of the RAF and RN, its own cliff rescue teams and general purpose rigid inflatables and other merchant shipping and aircraft which are in a position to give help.

HM Coastguard and the Marine Pollution Control Unit (MPCU) together formed the DoT's Marine Emergencies Organisation.

However as from 1 April this year the two bodies have become a single agency under the name 'Coastguard', but with each retaining its individual name and responsibilities.

Although both remain in the public sector the aim is to make the service 'as responsive as possible to the needs of the citizen by setting it challenging targets - relating both to quality of service and efficiency.' The RNLI works very closely, and has excellent relations, with HM Coastguard - the great majority of lifeboat services are initiated and coordinated by them - and it is unlikely that the changes will have any marked effect on the way in which the two organisations work together.

HM Coastguard *HM Coastguard maintains a 24-hour watch on the maritime radio distress frequencies and can also be con tacted by dialling 999.

• In some locations the Coastguard operates the lifeboat crew's radio pagers after consulting the Honorary Secretary.

' Most SAR operations are initiated and co-ordinated by the Coastguard.

» HM Coastguard is divided into six SAR Regions, each with a large Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC).

' The Regions are subdivided into three or four Districts, each under a District Controller either in a Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) or in the MRCC.

• Each District is is in turn divided into a number od Sectors, with Sector Officers who manage the Auxiliary Coastguard Centres provided with rescue vehicles and equipment.The right lines for Blue Peter lifeboat The first all-weather lifeboat to be funded from the proceeds of the 1993 Blue Peter Appeal underwent self-righting trials at Cowes on 8 April.

The new Trent class lifeboat is to be called Blue Peter VII and will be stationed at Fishguard, going on service there later this summer.

As with all new all-weather lifeboats the Trent was deliberately capsized with the aid of a large crane, the strops being released when she was completely inverted.

The lifeboat righted herself, as designed, in just six seconds.

She is pictured here just a little over half-way through the righting procedure, water streaming from her decks and upper steering position Key players for car 'Emmerdale' star Frank Tate, in real life actor Norman Bowler, handed over the keys of a brand new Volvo 460Li to Muriel Hullah, the winner of the RNLI's 64th draw, at Harrogate Volvo dealers Lex Harrogate on 3 March.

Mrs Hullah's winning ticket had been drawn by actress and keen lifeboat supporter Wendy Craig on 31 January.A helicopter from the US Coast Guard cutter Dallas carried out an air-sea rescue demonstration with Poole's Brede class lifeboat Inner Wheel in Poole harbour on 2 June 1994.

Veterans being accommodated on the cutter for the DDay commemorations in Dorset were among a large crowd which watched the display from Poole quay.

The'display was part of a two-day courtesy visit to the RNLI by the US Coast Guard whilst Dallas was in the area.

Vice Admiral Paul Welling, commander, US Coast Guard Atlantic Area, and Captain Hull, commanding officer of Dallas also visited headquarters and entertained RNLI staff on board the cutter.

Fast lifeboat allocations announced Several more of the stations to receive new Severn and Trent class lifeboats within the next two or three years were announced recently.

Lerwick's Arun and Islay's Thames classes will each be replaced by a new Severn and Whitby's Tyne, Dunbar's Waveney, Oban's Brede and Sheerness Waveney will all be replaced by Trents.Irish Awards Maureen Potter presented the annual awards to RNLI volunteers from all over Ireland in the Oak Room of Dublin's Mansion House on 18 May 1994.

The Lord Mayor in welcoming the assembled guests spoke of his amazement that such vital work as the lifeboat service was carried out by volunteers and that all income was raised by voluntary contributions.

The deputy director, Ray Kipling, who had travelled from Poole headquarters outlined the developments within the RNLI in Ireland, in particular the opening of new lifeboat stations on the west coast at Bundoran, Kilrush and Fenit.

'The provision of a new 25 knot Trent class lifeboat at Dun Laoghaire later this year will be a major improvement in search and rescue in Dublin Bay'.

Mr Colie Hernon, retired coxswain and secretary of Gal way Bay lifeboat, presided over the evening.

Maureen Potter then entertained the gathering before presenting the awards..