Club Meeting

On 5th May President Derek Clark of  the Rotary Club of  South Queensferry welcomed members and guests to a hybrid meeting at Conifox.

The speaker was Sandra Brown OBE who founded the Moira Anderson Foundation in 2000 as a legacy to Moira and her family. The charity provides a place of safety and support for children and adults who have been affected by childhood sexual abuse. Moira Anderson was eleven years old when she disappeared in a snowstorm near Coatbridge in 1957. It is still a cold case.

Sandra Brown was in her forties when she discovered that her father, Alexander Gartshore, was connected to the case. He was the driver of a bus which Moira may have taken before she disappeared, and at the time was on bail for other sexual offences for which he was subsequently tried and jailed later that year. Inexplicably, he was never interviewed regarding Moira Anderson who was considered a missing person, possibly a run-away. Things Gartshore said after his release convinced Sandra of his involvement. She applied relentless pressure to the police and the Crown Office, and wrote a play called One of our Ain and a best-selling book titled Where there is Evil. In 2012 the case was upgraded to a murder enquiry and in 2014 the Scottish Crown Office issued a statement that, had Gartshore still been alive, he would have been indicted for the abduction and murder of Moira Anderson in 1957. The Moira Anderson Foundation is based in Airdrie with several offices across Scotland. A new extension, The West Wing, was officially opened in 2022 by Claire Haughey MSP, Minister for Children and Young People.

In other business, President Derek thanked Norman Watson, Sandy Mackenzie and his team, Jim McCulloch and Neil McKinlay for their role in ensuring the Spring Fete was such a success.

Over last weekend, a group of Rotary volunteers led by Craig MacKenzie scrubbed and cleaned up the Community Centre Play Park ready for the summer. Last year Rotary South Queensferry refurbished and decorated the play park.