Page 11 - QARANC Vol 18 No 2 2020

Snowballs: Celebrating the winners is considerably more fun for those who didn’t win the prize
an evening funded by The Association so we could have a drink together and more time to talk. Thank you to everyone who came out from their snug accommodation, which was not necessarily nearby, to join us. Thank you especially to The Association not just for enabling this particular evening to happen but for the financial support to the AMS Sports Union who help to fund the event.
The collective effort and ethos came through again during the events where the beginners race is as well supported as the experts. That it is possible to go from never having been on skis before to competing in a slalom race in two weeks still takes me by surprise, although it shouldn’t of course, because it is simply a reflection of the determination of those new to the sport and the commitment of the
Dinner with 243 (The Wessex) Field Hospital
instructors who are as motivated by getting the beginners going as they are by fine tuning the champions.
And then there are the Nordic races ... I’ve never done this so that is possibly my challenge next time but it is clearly hard, hard work and novice or expert everyone just got stuck in. They supported each other individually and as teams and that is very much needed when you can see the effort involved. It is surprising everyone isn’t asleep by 1600 but that could just be my age showing.
And then there’s the patrol race. Nordic is hard enough but Nordic with a whole series of challenges thrown in is even harder. It is a test of fitness and stamina of course but teamwork, ingenuity, military skills and even general knowledge as you can see me in the photograph inspecting the teams
Patrol Race start: Kit inspection and general knowledge questions
and asking the questions at the start. The main prizegiving was another feat of organisation and a great celebration of the achievements over
the previous two weeks.
Then it would usually back to
normality but, many of us came home through Turin airport which shortly became the focus for COVID-19 and we all stepped back into a very fast moving healthcare challenge that was anything but ‘normality’. Having seen the spirit of everyone taking part in this important adventure training exercise; their energy, fortitude, humour and skill, it was easy to feel confident that the QARANC and the wider AMS would play their part in the pandemic response very well indeed.
Colonel Carol Kefford Colonel Commandant
The Gazette QARANC Association 9
RHQ says au revoir to Alison Roberts
RHQ staff got together on August 18 at a restaurant in Camberley (making use of the Chancellor’s ‘eat out to help out’ scheme) to say goodbye to Alison Roberts, our administrative officer, but we won’t be losing her at all. She is moving to Harrogate with her family, but will continue to be working for the Association from home. Covid-19 has been very good at proving that it’s possible to change working patterns and still be 100% effective. We will miss Alison at RHQ and wish her all the very best with her move.
Eating out to help out! Saying farewell to Alison Roberts.
From left to right: Alison Spires, Sue McAteer, Sally Cranwell Child, Sarah Young, Alison Roberts.