Entertainment / Doctor waves goodbye to isles with charity concert
A LOCAL doctor set for pastures new is holding a charity variety concert this weekend as a way of saying thank you to the Shetland community.
Catherine Brown is hosting the event at the Sound Hall in Lerwick on Saturday night in aid of Macmillan Cancer Care.
On the bill are acts like Adam Guest, Banks Flooer, Keirynn Topp, The Shetland Fiddlers’ Society and Hersel, while there will also be a raffle.
Catherine, who plays the fiddle, will also take to the stage on the night.
The doctor, who has spent a lot of time working from Lerwick Health Centre in addition to stints in Hillswick and Unst, is set to leave Shetland in the coming weeks after moving to the isles six and a half years ago for training.
“Obviously as a GP working in the health centre, I work very closely with the Macmillan team. When I decided to leave I wanted to give something back to a community that’s given a lot to me,” she said.
“I’m by no means cutting ties, but I just need to go and have this adventure, which is at the moment is going to be going to Nepal later in the year to work with a charity called Raleigh International, the sustainable development charity.”
Reflecting on living and working in Shetland, Catherine believes the people and the community is what makes the isles.
“I guess being a soothmoother as it were, I’m very aware of how all involving, all encompassing the community is up here and how welcome I’ve been made into it,” she said.
“I’m aware that maybe isn’t the case in all communities, I would say, and I feel very privileged that I’ve had the opportunity to work here.
“A big part of the reason that I moved up here is that because I play the fiddle and I enjoy music, and I knew there was a very good music scene up here, and that has absolutely not let me down. I’ve been blown away by the standard of musicianship up here. And I enjoy the outdoors here, it’s beautiful.”
This includes a penchant for swimming in the sea – “any excuse just to dive into cold water,” she said.
And little did Catherine know when she headed to Shetland over six years ago that she would have a starring role in a national TV programme.
The doctor was a prominent fixture on the second series of BBC One daytime series Island Medics, with a fiddle performance in the home of an elderly patient a particular highlight.
“It’s quite funny that now all my patients I go and visit are expecting me to carry my fiddle. I do take it with me, but not to every visit,” she laughed.
Tickets for the variety concert are on sale at High Level Music in Lerwick.
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