Royal Mail rescue for Palace showcase

Representatives from The Western Isles Cancer Care Initiative (WICCI) attended the Royal Reception at Buckingham Palace at the end of April, where they had the opportunity to showcase the work they do as a charity and meet the members of the Royal Family.

The team at WICCI received four invites for an evening at Buckingham Palace to celebrate cancer charity work across the UK. Attending the event was WICCI Manager Caroline Maciver, Macmillan Benefits Advisor Kay Mackinnon, dedicated WICCI Trustee and fundraiser Mairi Helen Macdonald, and WICCI Trustee, secretary and Vice Chair for the Hebridean Mean’s Cancer Support Group, Don Maclean.

Caroline Maciver talks about the preparation before the big event at Buckingham Palace, how it went much smoother than the lead up to it. With missing parcels to track down, the team were pushed for time and lacking resources. But with the help of a friend at Royal Mail, they were able to locate their supplies and head to the palace.

Caroline said: “We posted our promotional items and care boxes to Buckingham Palace, which were due to arrive there on Monday for the event which was on Wednesday. We travelled there on Tuesday morning and expected them to be there, but they still hadn’t arrived.”

“On Wednesday morning we still didn’t have any of our boxes, I was trying to track them and when I had checked first thing on Wednesday morning, one box had been missorted and was actually back in Inverness.”

With their supplies being in Inverness on the morning of the event, it was a mad rush to get everything delivered on time. Flown out personally by a member of staff at Inverness Airport, the deliveries arrived with just 10 minutes to spare. As Caroline describes it, stress like this is another aspect of ‘island living’.

With the previous stress handled, the group could enjoy the night ahead. When they first arrived to set up, they entered the huge space of the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace, a place that later on was filled with over 400 people from 56 different organisations.

Caroline said: “As you can imagine, it was quite overwhelming, just the scale of everything but it was really amazing.”

However, that feeling of being overwhelmed soon subsided as the environment of the prestigious gathering became more welcoming.

She said: “It’s incredible to not only receive an invite but to be asked to present what we do there. It’s an amazing opportunity for us.”

“The other charities that were presenting were all London based, within maybe 30 miles out of London, so it was really amazing that we were there as well alongside them.”

The work that WICCI do was very well received by other attendees, interested in hearing how the group have made support more easily accessible to people living with cancer and going through treatments, and ensuring they are not limited due to their location.

Thanks to the work of the team at WICCI and Macmillan, people in the Western Isles are getting that same level of support that people living in a city would receive.

Speaking to members of the Royal Family, the group were excited by the great interest people found in their work. Caroline noted how even though it was busy with so many other organisations and people all around, there were genuine conversation being had and there was no feeling of rushing at any point.

One conversation that stuck out was with King Charles, who found a mutual connection with Kay Mackinnon whose uncle, Donald Alick ‘Splash’ MacKillop, had once hosted the young Prince at the time for a week in 1987. The King then recalled the times he had in Berneray staying with Splash and his wife Gloria, who is now 95 years old.

Caroline talks about Charles’ great memories of staying in Berneray, where he managed an unpublicised visit, enjoying the peace and quiet of island life.

She said: “It was such a lovely connection that Kay had to the King.”

“When he found out we were from the Western Isles, he was so engaged with the conversation and was asking us about everything local. He was really brilliant to talk to, he took his time to talk to us and really paid attention to us.”

King Charles was taught the daily routine of crofting life. Being introduced to planting and lifting potatoes, cutting peat, and dipping sheep, the young Royal visitor had a week of uninterrupted chores.

In 1991, Charles returned with BBC presenter Selina Scott to film a documentary about his earlier stay, A Prince Among Islands.

In the run up to the event, the team at WICCI had to go through a process of meetings with the Palace Staff. For being one of five groups of the 56 chosen to showcase their work, Caroline said the group were told it was due to special interest taken by the King and Queen that they had the opportunity to exhibit the work they do for people in the Western Isles.

Caroline said: “They told me it was a committee that was put together, the private secretaries of the King and Queen who said that Western Isles Cancer Care Initiative had piqued their interest.”

Caroline goes on to describe the pride herself and all members of the team feel for their organisation. The impact they’ve had and great recognition they receive is more meaningful because it reflects all the hard work and dedication of everyone involved.

She emphasized the pride the group feel for receiving this recognition.

Caroline said: “We’re so proud that our charity had a chance to showcase what we do at that level. It’s great recognition for everybody who’s worked in it.”

“It started just as a room, a pencil and sharing ideas and it’s grown to supporting people across the Western Isles. We work closely wit the MacMillan nursing team to support people and it’s a really excellent service, we’re very lucky to have such amazing people to support everybody.”

The Royal Reception was not only a moment of pride for WICCI but well-deserved recognition for the team and all the work they do.