The Women of Dumfries and Galloway Lunch was established in 2003 to raise funds for the Crichton Foundation. The Lunch aims to entertain guests with inspiring and motivational women speakers along with celebrating the wonderful things that have been achieved in Dumfries and Galloway. The Women of Dumfries and Galloway Lunch has raised £154,825 since its inception, with 100% of funds raised supporting the Crichton Foundation’s charitable aims to support the students and institutions of the Crichton Campus. The Crichton is a unique multi-institutional campus and is the realisation of Elizabeth Crichton’s original wishes to establish a university in Dumfries.

Guest speakers for 2023 are:

Heather Currie MBE  – Associate specialist gynaecologist and founder of Menopause Matters.

Heather Currie is a gynaecologist with special interests in Menopause, PMS and Cervical screening.She is a past Associate Medical Director Dumfries and Galloway NHS and a past Clinical Lead for Gynaecology Modernising Patient Pathways Programme for Scotland. She is Clinical Advisor Scottish Government for Women’s Health Plan. Heather is a Trustee and past Chair British Menopause Society, Co-Editor Post Reproductive Health, the journal of the British Menopause Society. She is the author of many review and original articles in peer-reviewed journals and of the books: Menopause, answers at your fingertips, and Menopause Essentials. She is the founder and MD of Menopause Matters which runs the award winning website and publishes the award winning quarterly magazine, Menopause Matters. Heather was awarded an MBE June 2021 for services to healthcare.

Rosemary Lenton – Lawn Bowls Commonwealth Gold Medallist and accomplished wheelchair curler.

Rosemary Lenton was born in Huddersfield, moving to Dumfries in 1984 for her husband’s employment. Her career included working for the Inland Revenue at various locations, Citizens Advice Bureau Dumfries deputy manager and audit manager for NHS Dumfries and Galloway. Rosemary cycled from St Petersburg to Moscow in 1998 and the Great wall of China in 1999 for charity. She subsequently realised that she was having problems with her knee. An operation in 2002 became infected and as a result she became a wheelchair user. She had to give up her employment in 2005 and took up Bowls and Curling as social pastimes. She has competed at the Lawn Bowl World Championships in Australia in 2007, South Africa in 2011 and New Zealand in 2015, where she took the Silver Medal. She has represented Scotland, England and Great Britain at 8 Curling World Championships. In 2022 Rosemary competed at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham winning a Gold Medal in Para ladies’ Lawn Bowls pairs. At that time she was the oldest Commonwealth Gold Medallist. In 2023 she is Curling Skip representing England at the World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Championships in Vancouver. In Lawn Bowls she has been selected to represent Scotland in the Indoor Home Nations in Wales. Rosemary lives in Dumfries with her husband, Tony. They have one son and two granddaughters.