Page 48 - QARANC Vol 16 No 2 2018

46 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Newcastle Branch
Chair: Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Shirley Laverick-Stovin Secretary: Major (Retd) Jacqui Hall
The Newcastle Branch has been involved in a variety of activities and members have enjoyed a number of events in very different settings.
On 17 March 2018 we celebrated QARANC Corps Day in Catterick. The national meeting was held ‘Up North’ in Catterick Garrison and despite the awful weather, members Kathleen Robinson, Eileen Harold, Catherine Waller and chair Shirley Laverick- Stovin, braved the elements to attend. Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher and his team certainly put on a tremendous event.
For those unable to attend the National Corps Day, we met for a meal in a Chinese restaurant on 27 March 2018, for our QARANC Corps Day. This was an opportunity to see some members who we haven’t seen for a while, which made it an even more special event.
In April 2018, the Annual Branch Chairs and Secretaries Meeting was attended by Shirley Laverick-Stovin and Jacqui Hall. The Annual QARANC Association Reunion, in the Victory Services Club, always provides a great platform to catch up with friends who we may only see from one year to the next but keeps alive our motto of “Friendship”.
One of our members, Fiona Mitford, was unable to attend the Reunion this year as she was making a significant attendance of her own! She was an award winner for her poem “Armistice Medical Saviours”, which she submitted to the “Writing Armistice” poetry competition. Over 600 entries were
Jacqui Hall, Catherine Waller, Shirley Laverick-Stovin and David Bates at Weeping Poppies, Carlisle
Kathleen Robinson, Eileen Harold and Catherine Waller at the Corps Day Service, Catterick
received and the judge, Roy McFarlane, commented upon the variety and emotional intensity of the poems entered. The prizes were awarded at a ceremony at the National Army Museum, London, on 28 April, where all the winning poems were presented in a prize-winners’ anthology. Fiona was awarded a Museum of Military Medicine Commendation for her poem ‘AMS (Army Medical Saviours or Army Medical Services)’.
On 9 June (Blaydon Races Day), we held our branch meeting at 201 Field Hospital Fenham, and were given a rousing history talk taking us right back to the 1900s of the 1st Northern General Hospital by Fiona Mitford, former member of 201 Field Hospital.
Some of the branch members were lucky enough to go through to Carlisle to see the Weeping Poppies whilst they were displayed at the Castle and the weather was kind to us too! We also visited the Borders Museum and were fortunate to see the WW1 Art Exhibition which was being displayed there. Pictures included recognised artists as well as children’s compositions that were created in a number of formats from watercolour to material collages.
On 11 July 2018 some members attended the ‘Tall Ships’ at Sunderland. This was a magical event with the excitement of climbing onto the Mier Russian ship which allowed people to
Jacqui Hall, Tricia FitzGerald, Shirley Laverick-Stovin, Bill Toy and Allan FitzGerald ready to set sail
wander around the vessel to get a feel of what it might be like to sail the seven seas.
201 Field Hospital held a Families’ Day on 21 July 2018, which was attended by many ‘Old and Bold’ and proved to be a most enjoyable day out for children and adults alike. Many thanks were extended to the team that put the day together which was most definitely a great success.
There are a few more events planned over the summer including a visit to the Discovery Museum in August and The Grey’s Monument Event on 5 September 2018. All are welcome; please contact either Jacqui Hall, Shirley Laverick-Stovin or Bill Toy for more information.
Major (Retd) Jacqui Hall TD Secretary, Newcastle Branch