Police World Edition 4 2014

Article

IPA in Gibraltar Carolyn Williamson had a holiday in Gibraltar, during which she made good use of her IPA contacts. She has met some officers from Gibraltar several times over recent years, when they come over for the Police Federation of England and Wales conference and as 95% of the force are apparantly IPA members, there is a good connection!

Henry Bautista, Carolyn Williamson, Ryan Quigley and Henry Sacremento

S o, with IPA contacts, and spurred on by the Channel 5 series “Britain in the Sun”, the decision to head to Gibraltar was made. The first use of contacts was when she was looking to book the holiday, and suspected that the hotels being offered by British Airways were actually in Spain. An email from IPA Gibraltar member Henry Bautista resolved the issue as he confirmed her suspicions - together with a list of hotels that are in Gibraltar. Another Henry, Henry Sacramento – Vice President and force welfare officer – promised to meet her at the airport and all was set. However, the outward journey was not without incident, resulting in a very much delayed arrival. There was initially a delay of about an hour at Heathrow, as the aircraft had developed a fault with the controls for its reverse thrust mechanism, and as the runway at Gibraltar is extremely short, this facility is essential. On arrival in Gibraltar, around 5 pm instead of the expected midday, Carolyn was met by two uniformed police officers, who explained that Henry S was off sick, and Henry B was unable to make it, so had arranged for them to do the job. As they were in a marked police carrier it caused a bit of consternation at the hotel initially! On the Thursday Henry S took Carolyn on a

personal tour of the Rock and its various tourist spots, and as he has lived there all his life he made an excellent tour guide. Gibraltar has a lot of history behind it, from pre-historic times to the present. The trip ended at the IPA Club in the town centre, where Carolyn had lunch with Sgt Ryan Quigley – one of the ‘stars’ of “Britain in the Sun” - and presented a Section UK pennant to Henry Sacramento - together with centenary pins to all 3 hosts.

Henry Bautista, Carolyn Williamson and Eddie Yome

Before she left, Carolyn was able to meet up with Anna, another IPA member, and they had a good natter over dinner. She is looking forward to renewing the contact in Cardiff next year. Carolyn can recommend the hospitality of our Gibraltar colleagues, and said, “ The IPA Club is certainly worth a visit.”

The ‘Henrys’ had also arranged an appointment with the Commissioner of Police, Eddie Yome, so that Carolyn could tell him about the International Association of Women Police conference that she is helping to organise in Cardiff next year. He agreed that two delegates should attend, and even nominated one of them, Anna Jones, there and then. Carolyn presented the Commissioner with a Welsh slate cheeseboard and an IPA centenary pin.

Lunch at the Club In July, Simon Payne from 11 Region in Sussex also visited Gibraltar with his wife - he was met by the Vice President of Section Gibraltor, Henry Scaramento. After a tour of the Rock, taking in the siege tunnels, Simon and his wife Sue were taken for lunch at the IPA club.

Henry Sasramento receives a plaque

Sue and Simon Payne in the siege tunnels

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POLICE WORLD Vol 59 No. 4, 2014