Page 5 - QARANC Vol 14 No 13 2016

THE GAZETTE QARANC 3
commitment and compassion in such extreme circumstances.
You will remember from the last edition of the Gazette I mentioned the loss of liability to underpin the CNO(A) appointment. Work continues to address this situation; however despite high level support no enduring solution has yet been identified. I
must express my sincere thanks to our Colonel in Chief, Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, for her engagement and unstinting support on this issue.
The QARANC Association continues to do great work and has supported the events which appear in this edition of your Gazette, as well as continuing to
provide assistance to those members in need and hardship. I would urge all our nurses and healthcare assistants, Regular and Reserve, to sign up to the Days Pay Scheme both to support the work of the Association and enjoy the benefits.
Chairman’s Report
Welcome to the autumn edition of ‘The Gazette’ – and what a strange and busy 6 months it has been!
It is with great sadness that our Vice-President Lt Col (Retd) Pauline Novak RRC passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly on 19 May 2016. Pauline was appointed as Vice-President in 2012 and, as many of you are aware, she was a very keen and active supporter of all things ‘Association’ and ‘Corps’. Her funeral in her home area of Bristol was officiated by our very own Father John Harvey and was attended by many of our members, both serving and retired and was a fitting tribute and recognition of her service over the years. She will be missed by her many friends and colleagues. As you may have heard, the General Secretary, Mrs Heather Duncombe, who also held the appointment of Regimental Secretary, resigned from her post in June 2016. Heather decided to leave following an employment offer nearer to home and we wish her and Nelson her dog every success and happiness in their new lifestyle which means they are not travelling on the M4 every Monday and Friday! I know Heather is keen to retain her links with the Association through the Welsh Branch so will remain in contact with many. Finally the ‘cherry on the cake’ was the resignation of the Gazette Editor, Lt Col Pat Gibson MBE. I thank both Heather and Pat for their contributions to our Association over recent years and wish them well for the future.
Despite all of our challenges, in true QARANC style, we will not be beaten and continue to manage our Association which has recently been described to me as the Corps ‘Jewel in the Crown’! Col (Retd) John Quinn (formerly Director Army Nursing Services) has been appointed Vice- President from 28 July 2016. This will help us considerably to continue to progress our charity, further our charitable aims and ensure those in need are helped. The recruitment process for the Regimental Secretary/General Secretary is underway with the Civil Service – however, this of course may take some time. We are doing our best to retain ‘business as normal’ so do continue to contact us through the normal channels. This Gazette has, of course, been a challenge to compile and I thank the Trustees, especially Maj (Retd) Dottie Calderwood, for their energies in making it happen.
Events are in the planning stages for next year. Our Corps Day celebration, that will also acknowledge the 70th Anniversary of the Association, will be held at the Royal
Garrison Church Aldershot on
Saturday 25 March 2017. Further
details will be available on the
website or from the Regimental
Secretary. Many members
enjoyed the Annual Reunion in the
Union Jack Club in May this year.
For your diaries this will be held at the
Victory Services Club next year on 6 May
2017. This will follow the Chief Nursing Officer’s Annual Symposium. We also hope to hold a Garden Party later in the year but no dates are available at the time of going to press so look out for this in the next edition.
As you will see from the articles many Branches have been busy. South Downs Branch held their inaugural meeting in July and have other activities planned for later in the year. The Trustees have been busy both as a corporate body and within their sub-committees and it is anticipated that towards the end of the year all the previous editions of our Gazette will be digitally available through the website. Branches and Trustees are now in possession of the revised Handbook – a working document that will need continuous updating and improving. Working with clearly defined policies and procedures is a must in this litigious society. We have continued to help those in need and have granted monies to support those attending Battlefield Tours, adventurous training expeditions and sporting activities. The Association also plan to support, by way of a financial contribution, the work being undertaken relating to the move of the Military Medical Museum (formerly the AMS Museum). There is an article about the proposals relating to the move in this Gazette.
To conclude, I hope you enjoy this edition of ‘The Gazette’. Those of you who have access to our website www.QARANCassociation.org.uk, please don’t forget to keep an eye here for other news. We welcome all items of interest for inclusion on the website or in ‘The Gazette’, which should be forwarded in the first instance to the General Secretary. Enjoy this edition and I look forward to meeting up with many of you at events across the country over the coming months. Although I anticipate this edition will reach you in October, may I be slightly premature in wishing all our members and their families a very happy Christmas and thank everyone for making the Association the ‘Jewel in the QARANC Crown’!