Dunkirk pilgrimage When 30 of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships sailed from Ramsgate for Dunkirk on May 30 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the evacuation, they were accompanied by the new 52ft Arun relief lifeboat Edith Emilie, under the command of Lt-Cdr Andrew Forbes, RNLI Staff Inspector (Plans).

Nineteen of the Institution's lifeboats took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. Ramsgate and Margate lifeboats were manned by their own crews and they brought off 3,400 men of the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army. The coxswain, Howard Knight, of Ramsgate lifeboat, was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. Lifeboatmen Bill Stamford and Eric Davies, members of the present Ramsgate crew, were among the fiveman crew of the Edith Emilie for this special passage.

While in Dunkirk the RNLI was able to exchange visits with the honorary secretary, the coxswain and the crew of the local lifeboat station.

Minehead dedication Minehead's new Atlantic 21 rigid inflatable lifeboat, which has been on service and saving lives since July, 1979, was officially handed over at a ceremony on Sunday June 22. She isthe bequest of the late Ronald Mabbs, in memory of himself and his wife Catherine, and she was handed over by Mrs Mabbs' sister, Mrs Nancy Maskill.

After a morning of pouring rain the clouds rolled back just five minutes before the ceremony was due to start to allow the sun through for the first time that day. After Jack Waterhouse, the honorary secretary, had received the boat on behalf of the station branch, the Vicar of Minehead, the Reverend Christopher Saralis, conducted a dedication service.

Twenty years To celebrate Skegness ladies' guild's 20th anniversary, its history has been written by Mrs Jane Major and published in a booklet, Twenty Years On.

The guild was started in 1960 by lady members of the lifeboat station committee, and a condition of membership was the performance of some type of personal service to the RNLI each year. Mrs D. Smith has been guild president since that first year and several of the founder members still attend meetings.

In 20 years, £28,720 has been raised.

The booklet, which extends an invitation to its monthly meetings to members of other guilds and branches visiting the town, is available, price 50p, from the honorary secretary, Mrs E. M. Patrick, 4 Wilford Grove, Skegness.Cornish award Trevor England, coxswain of Padstow lifeboat, has been awarded the London Cornish Association Shield awarded annually by the Cornish Gorsedd for outstanding community service to the county. Coxswain England was awarded the silver medal for bravery in 1977 and a bar to his silver medal for the service to Skopelos Sky last December.

Sixty years The service given by some of our fund raisers extends well over half a century. Miss G. Webb, 90 years old this year and the oldest member of Sutton Coldfield ladies' guild, has collected for the lifeboat service for more than 60 years; the statuette awarded to her some years ago has an honoured place on the RNLI flag at each guild meeting.

Formula One A donation of £520 received from Ultramar as a result of Formula One 'racing for charities' was reported in our summer journal. At the meeting at Snetterton on August 10, allocated by Ultramar to the RNLI, Guy Edwards won the Formula One race in his FI Arrows. His win took the Ultramar team into second place in the British Formula One championship and resulted in £1,450 being donated to the lifeboat service.

Autographed copies A few copies of the late Sir Francis Chichester's book Gipsy Moth Circles the World, and some first day Chichester stamp covers, all autographed by Sir Francis, are offered for sale by Colonel E. W. Milner of Inniscrone House, Queens Road, Datchet, Berkshire, SL3 9BN; one-third of the money received will be given to the RNLI: Gipsy Moth Circles the World de-luxe edition. £50 per copy standard edition. £20 per copy First Day Chichester stamp covers, £15 each.

Postage is extra on each purchase..