Douglas Alexander MP has made Leuchie House, one of the county’s best loved and well supported charities, his first official visit to a third sector organisation since being elected MP for Lothian East last month.
Mr Alexander had already visited Leuchie as a candidate before the election campaign, when he met with Chief Executive Mark Bevan and discussed the charity’s role as a nationwide provider of respite, which improves health, enables independence and addresses the loneliness of those living with a neurological condition and their family carers.
Mr Bevan was one of the first people to congratulate Mr Alexander after the election and invite him to return to Leuchie. This time the county’s MP met with Leuchie’s Chair, other members of the Leuchie staff team and heard more detail about its plans to develop the services and broaden its impact.
Scotland has amongst the world’s highest incidence of people living with neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (c.15,000 living with MS in Scotland today). More widely, disability following the effects of a stroke is a significant health and economic concern, which Leuchie is helping to address in Scotland and further afield.
Douglas Alexander MP said:
“Leuchie House is a very important East Lothian-based charity and significant employer with positive impacts for people across all of Scotland and far beyond the County. It is a recognised and respected centre of excellence in its provision of vital respite care for families.
“It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to visit Leuchie again so soon after the election to meet the team and hear more about its future plans. Doing more to support the growing number of people living with a neurological condition is at the heart of those plans, and I look forward to supporting and promoting it.”
Mark Bevan, Chief Executive of Leuchie House, said:
“It was a pleasure to welcome Douglas back to Leuchie and seek his advice on our plans to do more, for more people. We discussed the growing impact of neurological conditions on the health of people across the UK, what we have learned from delivering 4000 nights of respite each year and how this could be deployed to improve health, enable independence and reduce the cost of the NHS and Social care, across the UK.”