PW_03_2017

Article

Thin Blue Line Inaugural Ball Yvonne McGregor VP

IPA Section UK received an invitation from the Thin Blue Line UK (TBLUK) for one of the National Executive to attend their Inaugural Ball at the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh. Although we had heard of the TBL we did not know much about the organisation and I contacted Gary Craig, the Event organiser, a serving officer with the PSNI and a current IPA Member. H e said that the British public will always remember where they were on the morning of 18th September 2012 when Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes were murdered in Greater Manchester. The On Friday, 15 April David and I made our way to the venue and were welcomed by Gary. It was nice to see he was wearing a kilt in the TBL Tartan as David was sporting his IPA Kilt. It was nice to meet up with a group of US Marshals who administer the TBL in the USA. Two Police Officers gave very moving and emotional account of their

circumstances of this murder, and the fact that this was two women, grabbed public attention more than any previous police officer murder. As a police officer he wanted to do something, anything, to help his extended Police family come to terms with what had happened. He set up the TBLUK Face book Page where he shared some of the dangers police officers face on a daily basis and posted good work done by fellow officers. The page was a great success. The next step was to raise funds for charities that help police officers and their families after similar tragic incidents. He chose COPS (Care of Police Survivors) and the Police Dependents Trust. By January, 2017, they had raised over £8500. Everything I heard and read about the organisation was positive and to be congratulated. When TBLUK announced they had commissioned a VERY limited edition of 25 year old Glen Elgin single malt whisky, I knew David would be interested. Through the IPA Whiskey Forum Face book page, David circulated information about the Whisky and within 2 days I was able to place an order for 7 of the 11 bottles for Forum Members in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Sweden.

personal experiences prior to the Charities involvement in their lives. One of the guests at our table who was a recent recipient of support gave us a very personal account of the help she had received following the tragic death on duty of her husband. After an excellent meal we were entertained by the BlackBeez Band, who are all serving Police Officers. During the evening there was an Auction and a Raffle, with some amazing prizes. I was fortunate enough to win US Marshal whisky tumblers and their Challenge Coin. Overall the evening raised £9,200 which has been divided equally between the charities. During the evening Gary presented David with No 2 of the 11 Limited Edition Bottles of Whisky. Gary has just announced that the TBLUK Ball next year is on 28 April, 2018 at the Titanic Centre, Belfast. Tickets are on sale now.

POLICE WORLD Vol 62 No. 3, 2017

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