Women of Dumfries and Galloway Lunch 2016

The fourteenth annual Women of Dumfries and Galloway Lunch took place on Friday 11^th March 2016. Chairman Vicky Jardine-Paterson welcomed over three hundred and twenty guests on the day. Two guest speakers were welcomed to the stage following the drinks reception and two course lunch. Mary Bell took guests on an Alice in Wonderland type journey down the rabbit holes that saw her become a teacher, through ill-health to becoming BBC Music Day’s Unsung Hero in Scotland. Although very different in content, Arabella Dorman’s account of her time spent in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, working with service men suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and most recently with refugees arriving on Lesbos after their perilous journeys, was equally poignant. The room was completely still and silent throughout the talks with not a dry eye in the house when they were finished. The Foundation is very grateful to both speakers for their fascinating and humbling talks.

Our thanks go to Vicky and the Women’s Lunch Committee, the many businesses that took advertising within the programme, those who gave donations and of course to Bonham’s who once again provided very generous support as the main sponsor. The Foundation offers them all our grateful thanks for their support, which has helped to ensure the success of the event by raising over £11,000.

Drake Music Scotland, Mary Bell

Arabella Dorman