NEWSPOINT One only has to look at the names of the RNLI's lifeboat's to realise that a large percentage of them, indeed perhaps the majority, have been funded by legacies and bear the name of the donor or a close relative.

When the lifeboats which are now part of the national collection at Chatham were built this method of funding lifeboats was a way of life - the boats were less expensive, even in relative terms, and the wealth of the nation was, in general, in fewer hands and larger concentrations than today.

Over the years the RNLI has received some 60% of its income from legacies, but last year there were some worrying signs. For the first time in its history a real fall in legacy income was detected, and although the 4% involved may sound a small proportion that decline has continued and, indeed, has accelerated.

Superimposed on this fall in legacy income has been an increase in the size, complexity and therefore cost of lifeboats.

The result is that we have reached a point where few legacies will now amount to the full £1.4m of a new Severn or even the 50% traditionally accepted as the minimum for naming the lifeboat.

It is for these reasons that the Institution has taken the steps which you will read about on these news pages - producing a new leaflet and a new video about legacies and their importance to the RNLI.

It may seem a little macabre to be concentrating on this element of fundraising - but in truth it is not. By bringing this matter to the public's attention now the RNLI hopes that those currently making their wills will consider the Institution's needs and allow it to plan with confidence.

They will also know that they are helping to secure the Institution's future as well as its present.

Legacies need not be large ones - many lifeboats have been funded by combining several legacies and appeals 'topped up' by generous smaller bequests.

The fall in legacy income is worrying, but it can be over- come if action is taken now.Heritage grant for unique lifeboat collectionAs reported in a 'Stop Press' item in the Autumn issue of THE LIFEBOAT the RNLI has been awarded a £355,000 grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The money will be used to safeguard the RNLI's collection of historic lifeboats and to present them in an innovative way which will bring the history of the lifeboat service to life.

The Institution has always been keen to preserve its heritage, but has not been able to spend money donated for lifesaving work in this way. As a result the collection, which had been at a museum in Bristol until that closed some years ago, has been housed at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham.

The Dockyard, itself a fascinating and historic location, will form a magnificent setting for the display, which can now be presented in a modern and imaginative manner.

The collection will be on show in the Number 4 Covered Slip and represents the evolution of lifeboat designfrom the late 1800s up to the 1990s. The whole Dockyard Complex is a fascinating slice of maritime history, and the Covered slip itself is an important historical building which complements the collection admirably.

The 15-boat collection includes a prototype Oakley, which heralded the start of modern self-righting lifeboats, as well as an early D class inflatable which, when introduced in the 1960s, started the move towards faster lifeboats.

The latest addition - and by far the largest in the collection - is the 54ft Arun which was in service until last year when she became the first of the class to be withdrawn.

An additional £250,000 is also available as a result of the generosity of a private trust and the sale of old lifeboats and the whole project will now go ahead with completion planned for Easter 1996.

There will be more details in the Spring issue of THE LIFEBOAT with - exhibition construction schedules and journal press dates permitting - photographs of the new displays.Legacy lifeline on the small screenSir John Harvey Jones (TV's Troubleshooter), newsreader Michael Buerk, weatherman Peter Cockcroft and Salcombe lifeboat coxswain Frank Smith (himself no stranger to Television) all feature on a new video production made by the RNLI to explain why legacies are so important to the Institution and to encourage those making a will to consider the RNLI as a beneficiary.

The video, based on an imaginary RNLI News Bulletin, is called 'Preserving all YouValue' and is linked with a booklet of the same title which has also been released recently by the Institution.

Joining the TV stars are others who, although not household faces, are just as important too the RNLI's success.

Among them are Steve Vince, Malcolm MacDonald and Charles Sharrod, coxswains at Poole, Lerwick and Hastings respectively, and also Yolande Rampton from Surrey. Miss Rampton may not be a lifeboat crew member, but it was she who - by funding Hasting's D class, made some rescues possible in the first place! The booklet 'Preserving All You Value' is available free from RNLI headquarters and the video should be available later in the year.The Annual Meetings The Institution's 1996 Annual General Meeting and Annual Presentation of Awards will take place in the Barbican Hall, London - the same venue as for 1995.

The meetings will be held on Thursday 16 May, the AGM at 1130 and the APA at 1430.

As in 1995 both events take place in the same hall and a registration system will be used to allocate tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please Note: It is important that the vouchers, which will be distributed in early April, are returned by supporters not wishing to attend.

In 1995 some supporters were disapointed as the APA was officially over-subscribed some weeks before the event, only for there to be more than 500 empty seats on the day! What's in a nameFowey's new Trent class lifeboat - due on station at the end of 1996 - will be called Maurice and Joyce Hardy after Mr Hardy of Twyford Hants and the USA who donated more than £lm in 1994.

Mr Hardy wanted a west country lifeboat to be funded from his gift and it is being used to build the new Trent for Fowey in Cornwall. However when it was known that Mr Hardy was terminally ill the name was carried temporarily by the prototype Severn class, although Mr Hardy died before the naming ceremony could be held.

Alderney's new Trent - named during September - is the first lifeboat to carry the name Roy Barker after the benefactor who left the RNLI its biggest ever legacy. The £6.5m is invested in an endowment trust and should be sufficient to fund a new lifeboat every three or four years.The Lifeboat New head of RNLI technical on tape THE LIFEBOAT is also available on audio tape in conjunction with Talking Newspapers.

The audio tape version is free, although recipients may wish to make a donation to cover the additional costs.

To receive The Lifeboat on a C90 audio tape please write to the Editor, The Lifeboat, RNLI West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ.

department David Morgan has joined the RNLI as the new Head of Naval Architecture and Engineering.

He has recently retired from the Royal Navy, with the rank of Captain, and his most recent position was Technical Director, Surface Ships at Bath.

He will be responsible for the RNLI's Technical Department, which designs, orders and oversees the construction of new lifeboats, and maintains more than 350 lifeboats at some 215 lifeboat stations and researches, designs and trials ancillary equipment.

David Morgan takes over from the RNLI's current Chief Technical Officer, David Hudson, who retired at the end of 1995 after 13 years with the Institution.Raising the roof! ... and the walls, and everything else come to that! This is one way of dealing with a boathouse which is surplus to requirements - in this case at Number.

The terms of the RNLI's lease dictated that when it was terminated the boathouse should be demolished. However the contractors decided there was an easier way - lift it in one piece, place it on a barge and float it away! Show stoppers Early recipients of this issue of THE LIFEBOAT will still have time to visit the RNLI's stand at the London International Boat Show at Earls Court.

The show runs from 5 to 14 January 1996 and the Institution's stand is 60E - the same position as in 1995.

The stand has the prototype Atlantic 75 featured in a display which recreates an actual rescue carried out by Poole's Atlantic in July last year.

On the subject of shows, the Institution's presence at the Southampton show last September resulted in a 49% increase over 1994 in the number of new members recruited.

The 'safety' theme of the stand was very appropriate - the RNLI had just announced that August had been its busiest month ever with a staggering 1,557 launches - 50 a day!Reunited in New Zealand Two ex-RNLI lifeboats were reunited again during July 1995, about as far from their home waters as it was possible to get.

Pictured are the Rother class Alice Upjohn being escorted intoNelson harbour, New Zealand by the Brede class Sealord Rescue- previously Girvan's Amateur Swimming Association.

The Rother was on a 350- mile passage from Wellington to her new base at Greymouth with calls at Nelson and Westport. She was due to be re-named IvanTalley Rescue the following month.

She saw service before even arriving at her home port, having taken part in a search for a missing fisherman in Westport..