Anna Boyd - Mountain Nurse

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Anne Boyd passed away in Australia in March surrounded by her loving family. One of Anne’s many titles was the “Mountain Nurse.”

Anne worked tirelessly as a nurse for the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation setting up mobile tuberculosis clinics in Northern India. When Anne was proposed to by her then fiancé Phillip Boyd she asked that the money he would spend on an engagement ring be given to a local Indian family in need.

To view a video on Anne, click here.

Anne’s story is below.

After meeting and hearing Leonard Cheshire speak in Sydney in 1964, I arrived in India aged 25, and was met at Dehradun railway station by the man himself.

Leonard (then known as ‘The Group Captain’ or ‘GC’) had arranged a bicycle for me. Together we rode over to Raphael, to survey ‘the hospital’. Raphael was the first ever home set up jointly by Leonard with his wife Sue Ryder, and I was to be the first nurse. At this stage, the bricks were still being laid. I had a turret room in an old palace, which was the local Cheshire home. This is where Leonard himself had lived for a year prior to his marriage in 1959.

Leonard regretted only having time to visit Raphael for a week or so every year or two, but both the Founders were in constant contact by mail. During my first three years, Leonard and Sue together visited twice. On each occasion, I did my best to see that they had adequate meals, which was a little difficult as Sue hardly ate anything, and Leonard had Coeliac Disease requiring a strict gluten-free diet. He suffered stomach cramps and was often clutching a hot water bottle.

They were both very intelligent, with quick humour, and into practical jokes. A nurse I met in London told me that she’d nursed Leonard at Midhurst TB Sanatorium and remembered him for pranks like hiding the medicine trolley in a linen closet when staff’s backs were turned.

Leonard Cheshire was charismatic and optimistic — and full of compassion and love for India and Indian people, and Raphael. He had an incredible memory for everyone’s names and enough Hindi for a chat. With volunteers such as myself, he had the uncanny ability to tap into whatever talents we had and encourage us to use them. When I expressed a lack of confidence regarding the mobile TB work, his advice to me was ‘If you put your feet in, you can always get the rest of your body in’.

I shall always treasure their friendship over the years from India to England and Australia, where he stayed with us on three occasions. In 1980, my husband Phillip and I stayed a few days at Cavendish. We helped in the office, Phillip played tennis with Leonard and did not win, and we hired bicycles from the village and rode to Cambridge for an overnight. When we returned the bicycles, we found that Leonard had already paid for them.

Don Sinclair: 'we lived a very rich life'

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In January Ryder-Cheshire Australia farewelled one of its founding members Doctor Donald (Don) Sinclair. He was one of Victoria’s foremost educators, a prodigious textbook author, an Antarctic tourism pioneer and a globe-trotting geographer and humanitarian. 

Don met Group Captain Leonard Cheshire in the 1960s. This would subsequently lead to Don’s 50-plus-year involvement with Ryder Cheshire.

New Zealand Chair Carolyn Tapley says she has many fond memories of her times with Don.

“He had a great sense of humour and told wonderful stories. He was a humble man who served the community and mankind in his own quiet way.”

Carolyn says that it is with sadness that she remembers Don and the tremendous support he gave her.  

“Whenever he gave you advice you knew it was the best advice ever. I remember attending the Jubilee celebrations at Raphael in India. He spent some time coaching me for my speech. After reading Don’s eulogies I realise the incredible wealth of knowledge this great man had in his toolbox.”

While involved with Ryder-Cheshire, Don oversaw the establishment of homes throughout Australia for families with serious illness, he was involved in the care of people with leprosy and disabilities in India, he brought a young girl from Timor-Leste to Australia for open-heart surgery, and he contributed to solar power systems in Timor-Leste. He provided inspiration and guidance to many. His legacy of good works will forever remain as testimony of his mum’s advice to “always do the right thing”.

Don is survived by his children, Andrew and Sarah, four grandchildren, his brother Ralph and sister Isabel. Dawn pre-deceased Donald by three months.

To learn more of Don Sinclair’s life, click here for the eulogy by close friend Peter Newton.

Numidia to fund Raphael Milk Project

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International dairy company Numidia has agreed to fund Raphael’s Milk Project for 2020. They are donating 8,500 Euros and have indicated their sponsorship could extend to 2021.

Ryder-Cheshire Foundation Chair Carolyn Tapley says that this is great news for Ryder-Cheshire Foundation New Zealand and for Raphael.

“We have been working hard over the past few years to find a sponsor for our Milk Project at Raphael. This is the best news we could hope for to start the new decade.”

Carolyn says long-time members Pat and Heather Moore had been promoting Ryder-Cheshire to their son Jim who has a network of philanthropic contacts around the world. Jim approached Numidia Managing Director Han van Hagen who thought the project a good fit for their charity arm the Numidia Charity Foundation.

“We at Numidia believe that everyone worldwide should be able to enjoy the benefits and the taste of quality dairy products. We are pleased to assist Raphael,” says Han.

Raphael is a Ryder-Cheshire centre in northern India. It provides milk daily to its residents and patients (who are mostly vegetarian) as part of a balanced diet to improve their nutrition and health. Called the Milk Project, it has been funded by the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation in New Zealand since the project started in 2008.

Numidia is a privately owned international sales, marketing and distribution company of dairy products and related food ingredients. Based in the Netherlands it has offices in four countries and distributes to over 100 countries globally. Their website is: https://numidiadairy.com

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