Page 53 - QARANC Vol 14 No 9 2014

Northern Ireland Branch
Chairman: Lt Col (Retd) Ruth Smith TD Secretary: SSgt Charlie Gilbert
In February 2014, Lt Col (Retd) Pamela McMillen, after serving a 4 year tenure, stood down as Chair of the Association. Pam took on the role of Chair following the closure of The Duke of Connaught wing of Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast and has worked tirelessly to promote the work of the Association. She has agreed to remain involved and this is welcome as her knowledge and experience is highly regarded. Lt Col (Retd) Ruth Smith has taken over as Chair.
A group of 10 members took Pam out for a “thank you” lunch and enjoyed good food, a nice bottle of wine and of course the usual reminiscing.
To date our year has been quite busy. We held our AGM in February to plan events for the coming year and also discuss how we can promote and encourage new members to join our Branch. We are encouraged by the fact that 4 new members have joined this year.
We remembered Corps Day by holding a Church Service on 27 March which was conducted by the Padres from 204 Fd Hospital and 253 Medical Regiment. The service was held in The Garrison Church, Thiepval, Lisburn and this was followed by an enjoyable dinner in the Mess.
On 11 June, our members had a day trip to Ballywalter Park. Ballywalter Park is the home of Lord and Lady Dunleath and has been in their family for 170 years. The Mansion is a Grade A listed building of exceptional architectural importance and is surrounded by 30 acres of grounds. The house has provided a location for a number of scenes based in London, Paris, Sarajevo, Brussels, St Petersburg and Berlin as well as some local ones in Northern Ireland. Externally, the grounds and Demesne have doubled as World War 1 trenches in Flanders, a Golf and Country Club, a picnic spot for Hilter, Hyde Park to name a few.
In recent years Ballywalter has been a location for films and TV programmes such as: Christopher and his Kind, The Undisclosed, Hilter on Trial Wodehouse in Exile, The Wiper Times and 37 Days.
The weather was beautiful with warm sunshine and we were able to wander freely around the grounds before being given a conducted tour of the Mansion by Lord Dunleath which was both very entertaining and informative. Following our guided tour of this magnificent Mansion we were treated to refreshments and delicious
homemade strawberry cake made and served by Lady Dunleath in the conservatory.
All attending agreed it was a fabulous day and it was also an opportunity for meeting new members and renewing acquaintances.
On 30 June, a number of members from the Association attended the launch of The Royal College of nursing Defence Nursing Network in Northern Ireland. The evening was a wonderful success and attended by the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Brigadier 38 Bde, Directors of Nursing from the Trusts, Chair of the RCN Foundation and Chief Executive and General Secretary of the RCN.
The Network, led by Major Gaby Smyth, a nursing Officer in 204 Fd Hospital and an Association member, is the first of its kind in the UK and a positive step for Defence Nursing in NI. The Tri Service Network will work in close cooperation with the RCN Defence Nursing Forum based in London and will provide a professional voice both locally and nationally and will facilitate the opportunity to connect with colleagues and the wider nursing and Health community through engagement, learning and development.
On 12 July, the Royal British Legion, Republic of Ireland held its annual Ceremony of Remembrance and wreath laying in The Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge, Dublin. Islandbridge is a beautiful memorial garden and dedicated to the 49,000 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in The Great War and of over 300,000 Irishmen who served in all armies.
Following a very poignant service of remembrance, approximately 80 wreaths were laid at The War stone. I had the honour and privilege of laying a wreath on behalf of the QARANC Association Northern Ireland Branch. This was the first time the Association had laid a wreath and it was interesting that following this, I was approached by a lady who had served as a QA in the Regulars and was now living in Dublin. Undoubtedly there are many others and I hope that we as a Branch can make some headway into finding those retired QA’s living in the Republic of Ireland and perhaps encourage them to join us in some of our events.
We have a number of events planned for the remainder of the year and as Chair, I look forward to welcoming all our members at these events and ask that you continue to give your support so that we can nurture and maintain our friendships.
Lt Col (Retd) Ruth Smith TD
THE GAZETTE QARANC
Chester Branch
Chairman: Col (Rtd) Sylvia Quayle OBE Secretary: Mrs Lynn Orfanelli
2014 so far has been quite but not for long! You see this is our 60th Birthday and we are having a party! The event was held in Chester on 25th September 2014. So watch this space for news about the party
With the success of our previous reunions under our belt we are going for our 4th one! This will be held in Shrewsbury on 4h to 6th September 2015. The format
will be similar to previous ones with the main event being on the Saturday evening. Full details are available elsewhere in this magazine.
We would love to see you there so if you are interested in joining us, forward your details to: Lynn Orfanelli 01829 741189 email: l.orfanelli@tiscali.co.uk or Liz Ashworth 01952 593488 email: ehashworth@hotmail.com
Finally we will be ending the year with our annual Christmas Lunch on 6th December 2014.
Best wishes from the Chester Branch.
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BRANCH NEWS