Page 19 - QARANC Vol 20 No 1 2022

The Gazette QARANC Association 19
Commonwealth soldiers to return their countries of origin in emergency situations, to a member who suffered a fire in their home and needed to replace their belongings.
Some awards subsidise activities that are fun and public, while others can be very personal and not something the Association would communicate.
How did Sue embark on
a career in the civil service,
I ask? She tells me that
she grew up in Cambridge
and studied for a degree in
Spanish and French at the
former Ealing College of Technology. “I wanted to use my languages, so I started working at Heathrow Airport as an immigration officer,” she reveals.
She did this from 1978 until 1995 when she took a break to raise her family. Rather than go back she switched careers to become an events manager for the Police Training College (now the College of Policing) – “The extent of my event management experience at the time was the PTA at school,” she admits – but she got the job and was later promoted.
Eventually the Home Office decided to close her offices and make everyone
home workers (ahead of their time, you might think) and Sue decided it was a good time for a change, and that’s when she saw the post of Regimental
Secretary of the QARANC advertised.
“At that time the Association had just a few hours a week help from Major (Retd) Alison Spires
(later to be The Gazette editor), Sue recalls. “Otherwise it was run by the regimental secretary and any volunteers she could get.” She brought in Alison Roberts and later Sarah Young, as she has continued to professionalise the organisation with support from the Board of Trustees.
Sue says, “The challenge going forward is to get our funding clarified and secured, and to encourage more reserve soldiers to join. We’ve started looking ahead and setting budgets for events and heritage, media and communications. We’ve created sub- committees for finance, governance, membership, and heritage, and we’re now looking at formalising budgets and how much we spend.”
Events continue to be a big part of Sue’s role, from helping to organise Corps Day, the reunion lunch, regimental dinners and other events for 1,100 QA regulars and reserves, plus retired members. Sue is also looking ahead to the 75th anniversary of the Association and Her Majesty, The Queen’s platinum jubilee and how the Association will mark the milestone.
Her favourite moments from the past five years? “Any function where I get to meet the membership,” says Sue. “A big part of my role is to be out and about and to be seen. The reunion lunches – the Chester reunion, the 50th anniversary of the Welsh Branch, Christmas lunches and many more – have all been a special privilege to attend, and I hear their appreciation for the Association which is lovely.”
The challenge going forward is to get our funding clarified and secured, and to encourage more reserve soldiers to join