Page 42 - QARANC Vol 15 No 2 2017

40 QARANC THE GAZETTE
West Country Branch
The West Country Branch was founded in 1967 by Connie Vick and has been meeting at least 4 times each year since then. Despite the large area covered by the branch from South Gloucestershire to the tip of Cornwall, the branch is flourishing with a number of new members joining us. The nominal role of our current membership is 68 with about 20 - 25 members regularly participating in events throughout the year.
Our current Committee post holders are: Chair - Sue James, Vice chair – Carolyn Smith, Secretary – Mo Holman, Treasurer – Anne Shilston, Members - Pang Adams / Hazel Blackstone. Area Representatives: Bristol – Hazel Blackstone, Cornwall – Sara Hawkins, North Somerset – Pang Adams, South Somerset / Devon – Mo Holman, North Devon – Sue Mills, Wiltshire – Anne Shilston
As a branch we meet regularly on at least 4 occasions each year; our AGM in October, our Christmas lunch which over the past few years has been in Bristol, Corps Day in March and a fundraising ‘Bring and Buy’ in May. We also meet as a committee prior to the AGM.
Because we cover such a large geographical area we try to meet in different counties for our different events. Our Corps day has in recent years been celebrated and enjoyed with lunch at ‘The Puffing Billy’ pub in Devon. We have for a number of years enjoyed the hospitality of the ‘Beambridge Inn’ near Wellington in Somerset for our AGM and the ‘Bring and Buy’ is held in North Somerset at ‘The Rodney Stoke’ near Cheddar. All these events involve good food, but especially good company.
We are always keen to know about new venues which are accessible and as central as possible for such a diverse geographical catchment area. Finding a suitable day of the week can also be a challenge as we would love to be able to accommodate our members who are working and often cannot
manage a weekday meeting but may have family commitments at weekends. Any suggestions gratefully received.
On 12 July we celebrated our 50th Anniversary with an afternoon tea party at the Mount Somerset Hotel near Taunton. We were able to have the Garden Room for our party. The tea was really delicious, and a beautiful cake, made by our member Hazel Blackstone, was cut by our oldest member Dorothy Flint.
After tea we were able to walk around the garden which was lovely, many photographs were taken and many memories of life in the Corps enjoyed. The sun shone throughout and everyone enjoyed a really happy day. Thanks go to Mo Holman for organising the event.
If you would like to know more about our branch please contact:
Sue James susan.james21@btinterent.com Mo Holman mholman2@btopenworld.com
Rinteln Reunion
Twenty five years after leaving the QARANC, I decided it was high time I joined, or rejoined the QARANC Association. What a magnificent publication the Gazette has become.
I especially enjoyed the “where are we now” slot and was delighted to read about Carol Kefford’s career success. Happy memories of Nepal and Field Assarts there.
In response, I thought I would tell of a lovely reunion organised by Helen Orr in early July. She even organised wonderful weather.
There were 9 of us; all served in Rinteln together in the mid 1980s in a variety of departments – midwifery, paediatric and general. In other postings we could be found in both hospital and admin roles at both the Royal Pavilion and out in the district as WSLOs.
As everyone will guess, chatter was non-stop. We had many memories and photographs between us.
From left to right: Mary Pape (Lacey) 83-91, retired, living in Gloucestershire; Viv Morris 79-87, a practicing midwife in Wigan; Helen Orr (Poulton/Bridgewater) 85- 90, Health Visitor in Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire; Liz Burquest (Harper) 83-91, Practice Nurse in Oxford; Julia
Douglas (Baugh) 84-89, Nursing Assistant, Palliative Care, Wiltshire; Barbara Carroll (Tilt) 84-89, retired, living in Devon; Fiona Thompson 84-92, Children’s Community Nurse, Surrey; Tracy Murphy (Rigby) 84-88, Graduate Nursing Coordinator in Australia; Penny Lamb (Haycock) 83-90 Senior Nurse Manager, Wales
Several of us keep in regular touch and would love to see anyone else who was serving in our time.
We agreed not to leave it 30 years until next time.
Liz Burquest