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175years of theForestersHeritage 23Roger Logan, Director of the Foresters Heritage Trust, shows how Foresters havehelped to save lives at sea… and reveals a more novel use of wavelengths!Foresters onthe wavesJust some examples ofthe strong link betweenthe RNLI and Forestersover the yearsSaving lives at seaThe Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) wasfounded in 1824, just 10 years before ForestersFriendly Society, and the two associations havealways been closely linked.It is estimated that more than 500 lives have been saved thanksdirectly to the Society’s donations over the years, and to this daythere continues to be a lifeboat fund that is run by the ForestersBenevolence Committee.The fund was set up back in 1862 by a member and Past HighChief Ranger named John France. Just two years later the fund hadreached £225, and the Society was able to donate its first lifeboat –aptly named Forester – to the RNLI, which was stationedin New Quay in Cardiganshire.Since then a further seven seagoing craft have followed,including Foresters Pride in 1869, Foresters Centenary in 1934and Foresters Future, the most recent, in 1985, and a number ofin-shore lifeboats have been donated. There have also been manydonations for equipment, including £23,000 which was raised in2001, thanks to John Crossley’s charity appeal in his year as HighChief Ranger.Members have always raised money for the RNLI on a voluntarybasis, but the sums it costs to build and maintain a lifeboat haveincreased at a staggering rate over the years. For example, some£60,000 had to be raised to launch Foresters Future at sea in 1985,compared to £255 in 1864 for the original Forester lifeboat!Hitting the radio wavesWhen Radio Luxembourg launched in the 1930s, itscommercial advertising and popular music offereda rare alternative to the BBC’s more formal style ofbroadcasting, and it was into this territory that ForestersFriendly Society made its first official foray into the world ofadvertising and marketing.In October 1950, it set out on a six-month sponsorship of arecord request show that went out on Sunday evenings from10.30 to 11pm. Some members thought the move was “lowbrow”, but two important guest DJs got into the spirit of thingsby hosting the Christmas and new year specials. They were thethen High Chief Ranger, H Dunham, and the Order Secretary,James Lennox. The contract expired in March 1951, andsoon afterwards the time slot was taken by Pete Murray andthe Top 20 show!History in the makingDo you have any interesting stories oritems from the Society’s history?The Foresters Heritage Trust Museum and Archive inSouthampton is always interested in hearing aboutForesters stories from the past and present02380 216 880enquiries@aoforestersheritage.com