Page 4 - QARANC Vol 16 No 1 2018

2 QARANC THE GAZETTE
President’s Foreword
A warm welcome to the Spring edition of your Gazette, which I hope will keep you informed of Association activities and events but also give you an insight into the professional lives of our nurses and healthcare assistants who continue to serve in the Corps today.
By the time you read this I will have relinquished my responsibilities as President of the QARANC Association as well as those of Chief Nursing Officer and Head of the QARANC, and will be immersed in resettlement activity. It has been a privilege to have served in the Corps and I am immensely honoured and proud to have been appointed Chief Nursing Officer and served as President of our Association. As I reflect on my tenure I’m convinced that someone speeded up time because it has flown by, perhaps an indication of the volume of work and the all-consuming nature of the role, something which I don’t think I truly appreciated before taking up post. That said I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the role and the opportunity to meet with many of you, both serving and retired. Whilst it is a great privilege to serve in the role, it brings with it great responsibility, not just in a professional
sense but also in safeguarding the interests of the Corps, the Association and not least our people, for the future.
In all of this I have strived to do my best and count myself very fortunate to have had the support and guidance of our Colonels Commandant, Col Jane Davis and Col Carol Kefford, as well as Col Sue Bush who recently retired from the role. All are very busy people who have been extremely generous with their time and energy. I would also like to thank Sue McAteer and Alison Spires in RHQ, who continue to develop and improve working practices to benefit our members. I have no doubt that Sue’s vision will ensure the RHQ will go from strength to strength.
It goes without saying that our people are the heart of the organisation and without a doubt the best bit of the job has been leaving the desk behind and meeting all of you, serving and retired. No matter where I have visited, there has been a warm welcome and lots of conversation. I have appreciated your honesty in sharing your views and opinions, whether on professional matters, the future direction of the Corps or Association activities. They have helped me greatly as I have tried to steer the Corps through some
Col Karen Irvine, RRC, QHN, President
of the QARANC Association. Photograph © by kind permission of Tempest Photography
challenging times.
For me retirement beckons and it’s
now time to make the transition back to the civilian world and embrace the opportunities in the next part of life’s great adventure, something I am looking forward to with great enthusiasm. I wish you all the very best of luck and success in the future.
Colonel Karen Irvine
Editorial
It is a pleasure for me to edit the QARANC Association Gazette once again having edited 12 editions from 2000 – 2006. Much has changed in the twelve years since then, including all submissions now arriving at RHQ in electronic format (so no more copy-typing from hand written script), digital photographs (no more entrusting of glossy Kodak prints to the Royal Mail) and Dropbox for submission to the publishers (no more copying on to floppy or Zip discs – some younger QAs may even wonder what a floppy disk is!). I am gradually learning new jargon together with a plethora of new acronyms, so I hope you’ll forgive me if it isn’t quite perfect this time round.
On a practical note, I would urge all would-be authors to read the guidance for contributors on the back inside cover. This will save us at RHQ from having to get back to you with requests and queries. Please remember to give your article a title, say who has written it, keep to 600-700 words, and provide captions for all your photographs at the end of the article. Many of our retired readers don’t know what all your acronyms mean, so please write these out in full the first time you use them. Your article has to be understood by a wide range of readers, so please avoid jargon and report-style writing – rather, tell us your story!
My final appeal is to send all your photographs as separate .jpg images. Photographs embedded in Word documents will not be used.
As many of you know, I have been assisting at RHQ for the last 18 months, most recently as membership secretary, and I have very much enjoyed getting to know the branch officials and our wider membership. I have greatly valued the ‘Friendship’ present in my encounters with you all, either personally, on the phone or via email. I will be sorry to leave the post this year, but in common with many a politician, I want to spend more time with my family! My husband has now retired, and our first grandchild is due to make an appearance in September.
I would like to thank Colonel Sue Bush and Colonel Karen Irvine for offering me the amazing opportunity to work at RHQ. I will continue my contact with RHQ as Editor of the Gazette for the next couple of years. I look forward to being a member of the Association for may years to come, and to continue my work with the Heritage and Chattels sub-committee.
I hope you enjoy reading this edition of your Association magazine. Feedback is always welcome!
Alison Spires, Editor