The HSC Retirement Fellowship Branch Activities
Currently there are 10 Branches, which normally meet from September to June - Antrim and Ballymena, Armagh and Craigavon, Belfast City Hospital, Causeway, Downpatrick, East Antrim, Knockbracken, Lisburn, Londonderry, Mid-Ulster, Newry and Mourne, North Down and Sperrin Lakeland.
Each branch is responsible for drawing up its annual programme of events etc. In most branches, the programme consists of a series of talks on various subjects - home safety, home security, volunteering, holidays, charitable organisations, public services, special interests, etc. Visits to places of historical and cultural interest, the theatre, garden centres, tenpin bowling etc. are also very popular and some branches enjoy going on holidays in the UK and Europe. At Christmas time every branch enjoys a special lunch or party and members are encouraged to bring along friends to join in the fun.
At regional level, there are three anual events - an Inter-Branch table quiz (with the winners carrying off the Captain Hawthorne Memorial Bowl), a Charity Golf Tournament (with the winner receiving the Lord Gilliland Perpetual Cup) and the Annual Conference / General Meeting which is held in September each year. Branches send delegates to this important business meeting, during which the Reida Thompson Memorial Cup is presented to the branch which recruits the highest number of new members in the past 12 months.
Fun, fellowship and helping each other are what the Fellowship is all about and all 10 Branches try to ensure that the wishes and expectations of each and every member are catered for. For the information of members and would be members, a member can, if he or she wishes, attend other Branches at any time - everyone can count on getting a warm welcome.