Ross-shire luminaries take a bow as names from Queen's Birthday Honours list revealed
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A ROSS-SHIRE GP who juggled the unprecedented demands of the cornavirus crisis with a demanding voluntary role and an engineer who has streamlined the way the RNLI carries out its life-saving work are amongst those named in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
Dr Moira McKenna (56) and Angus Watson (61) have been given the honour of Member of the British Empire (MBE).
Dr McKenna receives the honour for services to young people.
She has been a Lead volunteer for Girlguiding Scotland, for the past four years and into final year of role, she has had an impact on over 30,000 young members and 10,000 adult volunteers.
During Covid-19, she made sure every member of Girlguiding was supported with up-to-date information.
As chair of the Trustee Board, when she noticed a reduction in membership numbers due to Covid-19, this led to difficult decisions being made and implemented to ensure the sustainability of the organisation.
She worked closely with Girlguiding UK to ensure there were clear processes and communication channels to support Units in returning to outdoors, and eventually indoor Guiding also.
She did all of this while continuing to run her own Rangers Unit and work as a GP, supporting a massive Covid vaccination programme.
Angus Watson, of Dingwall, was director of Engineering and Supply, Royal National Lifeboat Institution and receives the MBE for services to marine safety and to charity
He retired as the RNLI’s Engineering & Supply Director in 2021.
He has nearly 30 years of service to RNLI as volunteer and staff and has has led and delivered change and improvement, and pioneered important technical developments that will enable lifesaving for years to come.
He joined the RNLI as volunteer crew at Invergordon Lifeboat Station and quickly immersed himself in station life from operational duties to supporting fundraising activities.
In 2000 he was appointed as Inland Waters Project Manager where he was tasked to assess inland casualty risk within the UK and Ireland.
Appointed Head of Construction &Refit, he provided strategic leadership for the maintenance and delivery of all lifesaving assets and infrastructure projects (440 lifeboats and around 1000 properties), making many improvements which led to greater efficiency and reliability.
His most notable achievement was to bring production of all-weather lifeboats in-house to RNLI.
Since 2016, 27 Shannon Class Lifeboats have been produced in-house, saving £10m on the cost of the previously externally sourced vessels. He has continued to pioneer
improvement.
Receiving the British Empire Medal (BEM) is Kathleen Sim (87) or Dingwall.
Vice-chairman of the Bits and Pieces Charity Shop, Dingwall, she receives tghe accolade for services to charity.
For over 30 years she has ran a charity shop with her friend to raise funds for the Highland Hospice. Bits and Pieces is hailed an outstanding example of a local charity enterprise.
The shop is run exclusively by unpaid volunteers and has provided high levels of financial support to the HH and a local charity Crossroads until its closure in 2015.
Since its closure, the funds raised, around £30,000 per year before Covid,
go exclusively to the hospice. The hospice receives an annual grant from the NHS but still needs an additional £7000 a day to provide palliative care for those nearing the end of their lives.
Kathleen continues to take a full role in the shop administration and duties as an active vice-chair. Her volunteers are hard-working with many receiving long service badges.
Unlike most charity shops, there are no paid staff. The group also helps to reduce social isolation and loneliness in the community by encouraging engagement.
A high percentage of the volunteers live alone and widowed and the shop provides a social hub where they feel safe, valued and part of a team.
She has organised many fundraising events in the local community to raise further funds including fayres, quiz nights and afternoon teas. These events also bring people in the community together socially while raising money for Highland Hospice, and encouraging attendees to contribute financially to local businesses.
She organised a regular Christmas Fayre in Dingwall, raising funds for the hospice, with an average £4000 achieved each year for the past decade.
Over the past 30 plus years, Bits and Pieces has raised in excess of £1m which is invaluable to the hospice's continued existence. This is in addition to the £3000 that was raised solely through the sale of hospice Christmas cards annually.
She is credited with being an excellent negotiator enabling the renting of various properties in the town and increasing moving to larger premises to meet demand.
Patricia Ross (69), of Achnasheen, is a volunteer for Highland Hospice and is awarded a BEM for services to charity in Scotland.
She is hailed an inspirational, devoted volunteer and fundraiser for the hospice movement both in the Highlands of Scotland and the UK.
She, alongside a group of friends, formed a committee to raise funds for the building of a hospice in Inverness. As a result, the Great Wilderness Challenge was born.
This is a sponsored race over the rugged, isolated Fisherfield Forest. The challenge consists of a number of physically demanding walks and was very successful in its first year, raising over £6000.
The popularity of the Challenge has grown, and it now attracts over 500 competitors from all over the world.
She has held the role of the event’s secretary and a trustee since its inception in 2004. Her work has resulted in excess of £4m being distributed to Scottish charities, with Highland Hospice being the main beneficiary.
During Covid-19, the event moved to a virtual format, ensuring the charitable
fundraising continued.
In 2005 she committed to volunteering twice a week with the Hospice in
Inverness.
Her contribution was recognised in 2019 when she was selected from the 100,000 volunteers of the Hospice UK organisation and was awarded the Hospice UK Volunteer of the Year.
Iain MacFadyen (86) of Kyle of Lochalsh, receives the accolade for services to Piping in Scotland.
He has been playing the Highland Bbagpipe for over 70 years for functions and events such as weddings, funerals, recitals and Burns Suppers, at home and abroad.
His playing has brought pleasure to thousands of people across the world both from his live performances and through his recordings, which are still selling.
His playing has inspired many to learn to play this most difficult of instruments. His solo competition record of successes is probably unmatched, historically or in recent times.
From his first win in 1947 – Boys Brigade Piping Champion of Scotland until
his retirement from competition in 1988 – "he has won everything of note".
After his National Service, he played in the Red Hackle Pipe Band which was placed 2nd in the World Pipe Band Championships in 1962.
His success in competition brought him international prominence, thereby promoting Scotland and the United Kingdom on the global stage.
Prior to his appointment in 1972 to his area schools teaching post, the Skye
and Lochalsh area had lost much of its piping heritage. When in post, he lost no time in reigniting interest in traditional music in the schools, going far above the expectations of a salaried teacher.
He offered extra-curricular piping tuition to pupils, travelling far afield to competitions, encouraging and inspiring them. He has made a huge difference to the prominence of traditional music in the Highland region.
He has taught at summer schools and special events in many countries. His reputation for teaching his students in his jovial, light-hearted manner while ensuring they achieve their full potential sees many pupils travelling long distances to benefit from his expert tuition.
He brings these qualities to his current role in the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music. He also travelled widely across the country for many years as a music examiner for the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
As a Senior Judge on the Competing Pipers Association panel, with decades of experience and held in high esteem, his services have been in great demand for competitions throughout the country.
Through his association with South West Ross Piping Society over the past 45 years, he has been a key figure in organising and participating in piping recitals for the cultural benefit of the community as well as the edification of attending pipers.
Now in his eighties, he remains an inspiration as a performer, teacher, adjudicator and role model.
