Page 25 - QARANC Vol 20 No 1 2022

Linda Reed writes: ‘Last September I had the pleasure, along with my friend Yvonne Simpson a fellow ex QA, to attend a ‘drive in garden party’ held by the Not Forgotten Association, a charity that helps wounded and disabled veterans.
The party took place at Baronscourt Estate near Omagh which is the family home of the Duke of Abercorn. He very kindly let the Not Forgotten use his estate for the occasion and what an evening we had!
The entertainment was first class. Annie Riley was a great host and singer along with other singers and dancers, there was even food and beverages served to our cars.
Dress code was casual or fancy dress and Yvonne and I decided to go as the Pink Ladies from the movie Grease. It turns out we were the only ones in fancy dress, so we won the prize for best costume. We also won a prize playing ‘Singo Bingo.’
All in all, it was a great day out.
Big thanks to Rosie from the Not Forgotten (www.thenotforgotten.org) for organising everything.’
Sally McKeown writes: ‘On 10 December I attended the QA Association NI Branch Christmas Dinner. It was held in the prestigious Ulster Reform Club in the centre of Belfast which is a wonderful building established in 1885. We were greeted by a very smart doorman and made our way up the grand staircase.
It was a good turnout. The food was delicious and so was the wine!
It was great to meet up with fellow ex QAs Linda Reed and Yvonne Simpson and, as a bonus, Ex RAMC OTT Guy McFadden Newman and his lovely wife Kerry, the secretary of the Branch Association.
A lovely way to start the build up to Christmas.
The Gazette QARANC Association 25
MIDLAND BRANCH
Nothing better than meeting in person
After a challenging time, the Midland Branch finally came together for a face-to-face meeting, which was the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday 16 October, at the Tally Ho Conference Centre in Birmingham.
Although we have had meetings as a Committee and Branch via Zoom, it’s not the same as getting together and having a chat. We managed to maintain links with our members throughout Covid, however meeting face to face and having coffee and chatting about what members have been up to and how they have kept themselves occupied has been very interesting.
It was also lovely to see, not only long-term members but also members, who have recently joined the Branch. We were also joined by Major Darren Illingworth and his students from Birmingham City University, who have been a pillar
of support for the Branch over this past year or so. After a few technical issue’s we were also joined by our chairman, from her lovely home in France. This was surprisingly successful.
After the meeting we sat down for Lunch and the food as always was of high standard, this was then followed by a Raffle with prizes and
guess the weight of the cake. Overall, this was a successful AGM and the attendance was very high, which shows just how much support there is for the Midland Branch and hopefully this will be a reflection of attendance at future meetings.
Collette Froggatt Secretary, Midland Branch
NI BRANCH
‘We even won best costume’