Scottish Huntington’s Association and the University of Stirling team up to win Perfect Partnership award
Scottish Huntington’s Association and the University of Stirling have won the Perfect Partnership award at the 2015 Scottish Charity Awards.
They were rewarded for their work in combining to create the world’s first accredited course for health and social care staff to improve their knowledge and confidence to care for people with Huntington’s disease.
The course was delivered for the first time from September to December 2014, coinciding with The Scottish Huntington’s Association celebrating its 25th year of improving the quality of life for families living with Huntington’s disease, and offered students 200 hours of study at level 10 of the Scottish Qualifications Framework.
John Eden, chief executive of Scottish Huntington’s Association, said: “It has been a profoundly rewarding experience to be a finalist with Stirling University in this year’s charity awards, but all the more so to become winners and be recognised by the voluntary sector community in Scotland.
There are still so many people who live under the shadow of silence of this genetic condition and it is our hope that this award will help to gain recognition of the challenges they face
“Our primary motivation for entering the awards was to help raise awareness of Huntington’s disease. There are still so many people who live under the shadow of silence of this genetic condition and it is our hope that this award will help to gain recognition of the challenges they face as well as the incredible efforts by the Huntington’s community to combat this illness.
“We are deeply grateful to the university for their commitment to making this programme work so well."
Louise McCabe, senior lecturer at the University of Stirling, added: “We are very pleased to win this award, it has been a pleasure working with the Scottish Huntington’s Association and my thanks go to them, my colleagues at the university and the families and people with Huntington’s disease who helped inspire and guide us.”
The Scottish Charity Awards, in their ninth year, were held in Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms on Thursday night.
Organised by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), the awards bring together several charities and volunteers from across the country to recognise their contribution to life in Scotland.
Other winners on the night included MND Scotland, Beith Community Development Trust, and Prostate Cancer UK, with Matthew McVarish crowned Charity Champion.
Shulah Allan, convener of SCVO, said: “This year’s finalists and winners work tirelessly to support vulnerable people in our communities and to raise awareness of important causes. They really have earned this acclaim.”
