Hello You, This Is Me – The Podcast of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
Hello You, This Is Me - The Podcast of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
Podcast Description
A modern history of the First Ad Nursing Yeomanry.What motivates someone to join the UK’s only all-female charity serving the nation? Would you volunteer your time to provide support to those in need, often in the most testing circumstances? Could you do all of this alongside your regular full-time job? The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps) – known as the FANY – has 150 members who all volunteer their time to help others in times of need. Established in 1907, the FANY continues to be an essential part of London's emergency response capability, with members on call 24/7 365 days a year to provide surge relief to civil and military authorities in times of national need. In this brand new series, FANYs share their stories of resilience, fortitude and humour, give an insight into the world's longest established uniformed voluntary organisation for women, and illustrate why their motto: ‘Arduis Invicta’ or ‘I cope’ – is so fitting.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The series explores themes such as volunteerism, resilience, and community service, with a particular focus on the unique challenges faced by FANY members. Episodes delve into personal stories, like that of Laura Lean, who discussed coping with adversity and providing support in emergency situations, alongside their commitments to regular jobs.
A modern history of the First Ad Nursing Yeomanry.
What motivates someone to join the UK’s only all-female charity serving the nation?
Would you volunteer your time to provide support to those in need, often in the most testing circumstances?
Could you do all of this alongside your regular full-time job?
The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps) – known as the FANY – has 150 members who all volunteer their time to help others in times of need. Established in 1907, the FANY continues to be an essential part of London’s emergency response capability, with members on call 24/7 365 days a year to provide surge relief to civil and military authorities in times of national need.
In this brand new series, FANYs share their stories of resilience, fortitude and humour, give an insight into the world’s longest established uniformed voluntary organisation for women, and illustrate why their motto: ‘Arduis Invicta’ or ‘I cope’ – is so fitting.
In this 3rd episode, we meet the first of our (surviving) Commanding Officers, Anna Whitehead OBE, who became the CO in 1990.
The daughter of an Army Officer, Col Leonard Dismore, who had served with the SOE in WW2, and the wife of a naval officer, David Whitehead, Anna served as CO until 1997. She hit the ground running: within her first year the Corps deployed to provide support during the 1991 Cannon Street rail crash.
One of Anna’s enduring legacies is our Long Service Medal, introduced by her and awarded to FANYs once they had given 10 years of loyal service.
For this podcast we spent a wonderful afternoon in her house in Bishops Waltham, pouring over FANY memorabilia and laughing about how so much has changed, but also how much has stayed the same.
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