Speakers Evening

On Thursday 5th March, President Jim McCulloch had the pleasure of inducting Mary Smyth to the Rotary Club of South Queensferry. Introducing the new member. Assistant District Governor Graham Leith said that Mary was born in Canada and came to Scotland as a child where her family farmed at Chance Inn in Fife. She settled in Queensferry to be near her son. Mary enjoys volunteering and has travelled several times to Africa on voluntary projects. She also acts as a steward for G4S at events around Edinburgh. Mary received a warm welcome to the club by members and guests.

The night's speaker was also a recent recruit to the club, Lesley Anne Beirne, who talked about her career in nursing. Born in Caithness, Lesley trained as a nurse forty-five years ago and continues in the profession as an agency nurse for the Scottish Nursing Guild. She generally practised as a surgical rather than a medical nurse and specialised in endoscopy. After a break to have children she continued nursing, eventually taking early retirement from her permanent job. Lesley had always been fascinated by South America and by chance heard about The Vine Trust which provides nursing and medical services to people in remote areas of Peru, too poor or isolated to have access to a hospital. Despite suffering from a debilitating infection herself, Lesley served on a team of eight nurses on a river boat calling at remote outposts in the hinterland which received a one-day visit  every three months. It was a life-changing experience treating everything from injuries to ante-natal problems and serious infections. Only local anaesthetic was available and though some serious cases were airlifted to hospital, frequently patients were beyond help and nothing could be done. The trip emphasised how much we take for granted in the UK. Lesley's talk prompted many questions from the floor. Asked how nursing had changed, Lesley said that along with many of her colleagues, she felt the service had begun to deteriorate when traditional nursing sisters were replaced by managers with no nursing experience.  Lesley Anne Beirne was introduced by Gordon Wood. Graham Leith proposed the vote of thanks.