About District 1
Our District covers a vast geographical area in the Northeast of Scotland. Our current clubs stretch from Inverness, the capital of the highlands, in the north, along the spectacular Moray coast to Nairn and Banff then south as far as Stirling and Dunfermline on the Firth of Forth. We have 17 clubs with over 500 members – almost 40 of those new this year. All clubs have a formal meeting each month except for July and August – with social events, coffee mornings, walks and fund- raising activities spread throughout the year.
The area is rich in culture and history with spectacular scenery – the high mountains of the Cairngorms with rivers and glens leading down to the gentler lowlands below; nature reserves where otters, ospreys, deer and red squirrels abound; and gigantic sea cliffs with colonies of migratory sea birds. The district is home to hundreds of castles and places of interest to visit. Here you can visit cities like Aberdeen – the oil capital if the UK; Dundee – now a UNESCO city of culture with the V & A museum; or the newly created city of Dunfermline. Opportunities abound to participate in hillwalking, fishing, playing golf or even curling. Another activity would be to visit one of the whisky distilleries along Speyside or go monster spotting on Loch Ness – the choice is endless!
District Chairman
District Chairman Jean Hale
Welcome
I am absolutely delighted and proud to be your District 1 Chairman this year. I have been a member of the Inner Wheel of Forfar – my hometown – for 17 years and follow in a long line of women who have served our District, with 3 Past District Chairmen still active members of my club, I have a lot to live up to! My apprenticeship has been to serve as your District Editor for the last 4 years – a job I have loved.
All of us enjoyed the challenges and social events linked to Inner Wheel’s Centenary and IIW Convention last year – the task for us now is to keep that momentum going, now we are 100 plus and embark on a second century of service. Our clubs are at the heart of their communities which ties in with the GB&I logo and also with this year’s IIW logo – Heartbeat Of Humanity – every beat counts, every action matters.
Our focus this year is Friendship and Membership. The special friendships we make through Inner Wheel need to be celebrated and publicised so we can encourage more women to join us. Last year we attracted almost 40 new members, with a few more poised to join us at the start of this year. Well done – I hope we can keep up this exciting trend!
Our District meetings return to the more traditional format in August, March & June at your request, with a zoom meeting in November, which will be more interactive so that clubs can share their achievements. I look forward to meeting you all in my travels around the district as I visit all our clubs and attend events. I am keeping a picture diary or blog of these journeys, month by month – known as Jean’s Journeys – and a copy of this will arrive by email to members or can be found in the posts below.
A special date for your diaries is our 73rd District Rally, which will be held on Friday 30th May 2025 in the Royal Hotel, Forfar.
Social Links
Who we support
This year District Chairman Jean has chosen the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) to be our district charity – a charity she has personally been involved with as a fundraiser for over 20 years.
The RNLI is the charity saving lives at sea in GB&I. Since its set up in 1824, they have saved over 140,000 lives and now run over 237 lifeboat stations and 220 beach lifeguard units. This year is the 200th Anniversary of the RNLI – with special events being held to celebrate including a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace to which Jean and 10 others from the Forfar Branch were invited!
The RNLI receives no government funding but is totally dependent on donations and legacies to carry out its work. Most of its crew are volunteers. It is a charity much loved by our members – in fact two lifeboats have in the past been funded by donations from Inner Wheel.
There are 12 Lifeboat Stations located along the coast which border our clubs. We have arranged that the funds we raise will be used to assist these local stations in this remarkable lifesaving work. To make sure that these funds are ring fenced for our local stations please send club donations to our District Treasurer – not directly to the RNLI.
Spencer Harris, the Community Manager from Perth has made up amazing fundraising packs for each club. They are excited to be working in partnership with us and have offered to provide us with speakers and will arrange a visit to a lifeboat station for any of our clubs later in the year – which I am sure our members will be interested in.
For more information about the RNLI please see their website at – rnli.org
AD1
District 1 Officers
DISTRICT CHAIRMAN – Jean Hale
1st Vice Chairman – Lynda Taylor
Immediate Past Chairman – Annetta Anderson
District Secretary – Gladys Johnston
District Treasurer – Susan Oliphant
Member of Council – Diana Taylor
District Editor – TBA
International Service Chairman – Nanette Thomson
Membership & Development Officer – Annetta Anderson
Email Us
District 1 Events
| Meeting | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|
| District Committee Meeting 2 | 13/11/2024 | Online Meeting via Zoom |
| District Committee Meeting 3 | 08/03/2025 | Aberdeen Altens Hotel, Aberdeen |
| District Rally | 30/05/2025 | Royal Hotel, Forfar |
| District Committee Meeting 4 | 11/06/2025 | Invercarse Hotel, Dundee |
Current Clubs
ABERDEEN - Atholl Hotel AB15 4YN - 2nd Tuesday 18.45
ABERFELDY & DISTRICT - Contact innerwheeldistrict1@outlook.com - Last Wednesday 18.00
AUCHTERARDER & DISTRICT - Smiddy Haugh Hotel, Main Road PH3 1HE- 1st Thursday 12.00
BANFF - Banff Springs Hotel AB45 2JE - Last Monday 19.30
DUNDEE - Woodlands Hotel DD5 2QL - 3rd Thursday 14.15
DUNFERMLINE - Garvock House Hotel KY12 7TU - 3rd Thursday 19.00 2nd Thursday Dec
ELLON - Station Hotel AB41 9BD - 3rd Tuesday 19.00
FORFAR - Royal Hotel DD8 3AE - 3rd Wednesday 18.45
INVERNESS - Kingsmill Hotel IV2 3LP - 1st Thursday 13.00
KINROSS & DISTRICT - Kirkland Hotel KY13 8AN - 2nd Monday 14.30
LAURENCEKIRK & DISTRICT - The Panmure Arms Hotel DD9 7TA - 2nd Tuesday 18.30
MONTROSE - The George Hotel DD10 8EW - 2nd Thursday 18.30
NAIRN - The Golf View Hotel IV12 4HD - 3rd Wednesday 12.30
NORTH FIFE - Drumoig Hotel KY16 0DS - 1st Tuesday 18.30
PERTH - Royal George Hotel PH1 5LD - 1st Thursday 14.15
PITLOCHRY - Hydro Hotel PH16 5JH - 4th Thursday 19.00
STIRLING - Court Hotel FK9 4LA - 1st Friday (Sept, Nov, Jan, Feb, Jun) 12.00, 1st Tuesday (Oct, Dec, Mar, May) 18.00
(1943) ABERDEEN
(1990) ABERFELDY & DISTRICT
(1982) AUCHTERARDER & DISTRICT
(1959) BANFF
(1947) DUNDEE
(1946) DUNFERMLINE
(1992) ELLON
(1950) FORFAR
(1959) INVERNESS
(1982) KINROSS & DISTRICT
(1985) LAURENCEKIRK & DISTRICT
(1975) MONTROSE
(1958) NAIRN
(1981) NORTH FIFE
(1946) PERTH
(1993) PITLOCHRY
(1948) STIRLING
District 1 latest news
D1 District Chairman Jean’s Journeys 1-3
District Chairman Jean has her first blog called Jean's Journeys No 1 from 1 July to 31 October Click on the link for Jean's Journeys 3 Click on the links to read Jean's Journeys 1-3...
D1 Laurencekirk & District poster using toolkit to attract knitters
District 1 Laurencekirk & District Club used the Toolkit from Association and artwork by Cathy Reid to promote the Club, gain knitters and at least one new member at the Mearns Community Campus event. Well done Gladys Johnston and Denise...
