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The Erskine Hospital / Erskine Home is an iconic Scottish Veterans care charity, which since 1916, has operated from its historic estate in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Its Patron is Prince Charles.

Erskine provides long-term nursing, respite, dementia and end-of-life medical care for Veterans of the British Armed Forces, and their spouses, who have settled in Scotland. The charity also provides a range of individual, family and assisted living accommodation and Veterans Activity Centres. The charity opened and established itself as Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers in 1916. Its name was then shortened to Erskine Hospital and then simply "Erskine" in later years. It was opened due to the need to treat the thousands of military personnel who lost their limbs in the First World War. The charity has gone on to offer help to British Veterans of the First World War and every subsequent war. It has gone on to become the biggest ex-services facility in the country and has cared for more than 96,000 Veterans and their spouses. Erskine's charity website lists its extensive care, accommodation and support services.

Contents

 * 1 History
 * 2 Artificial limbs & Social Support
 * 3 Modernisation & Expansion
 * 4 Homes, Accommodation & Support
 * 4.1 Erskine Home
 * 4.2 Erskine Park Home
 * 4.3 Erskine Edinburgh Home
 * 4.4 Erskine Glasgow Home
 * 4.5 Veterans' Accommodation
 * 4.6 Training & Support
 * 4.7 Reid Macewen Centre
 * 5 ERSKINE VALUES
 * 6 Funding
 * 7 Listed buildings
 * 8 Gallery
 * 9 References
 * 10 External links

History
Artificial hands made for Erskine Hospital 1918, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow A need for a dedicated war hospital was apparent during the First World War, as hospitals struggled to support the needs of the many limbless soldiers and sailors returning from war. Public feeling was that Scotland should have a large, modern war hospital to cope with these type of injuries. A charitable committee was formed after a meeting in Glasgow. Sir William Macewen, a chief surgeon, was at the forefront of pushing through the need for such a facility. He met with Sir Thomas Dunlop the Lord Provost of Glasgow, who was enthusiastic.

The next stage was to find a location for the hospital in the west of Scotland. After reviewing several sites it was decided that Erskine would be the location. Thomas Aikman, the owner of Erskine House, which is a mansion on the banks of the River Clyde, offered free use of his mansion and gardens for the period of the war and for 12 years after it was declared over. Then Sir John Reid, a charity committee member, bought the mansion house and gardens and gifted them to the charity. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll agreed to become the patron of the hospital and within a few weeks the Scottish public had donated £100,000 towards the facility.

The hospital was opened on 10 October 1916 and had an official opening on 6 June 1917 with Princess Louise making an appearance. It has since been referred to as "The Chelsea Royal Hospital of the North" and the original "Help for Heroes"

Artificial limbs & Social Support
There was a huge influx of injured military personnel returning from the First World War with missing limbs due to the fighting. Britain at this time was wholly dependent on foreign imports of artificial limbs. Sir William Macewan, the chief surgeon at the hospital, thought that this was intolerable. A dispensary and operating theatre were fitted out as workshops making artificial limbs. Mcewan also enlisted the help of a local shipbuilding company called Yarrow Shipbuilders. The company not only lent their yard but chose to have some of their best craftsmen working on the design and construction of the limbs. McEwan and Yarrows subsequently designed a new concept artificial limb known as the Erskine Artificial Limb. By December 1917 the hospital had treated 1,613 patients and of that number 1,126 required a new limb. And by 1920, there had been 9,500 artificial limbs fitted. Most of these were manufactured at the hospital’s workshops

By 1980, there were new departments available for ex-service people. These included a social work and speech therapy department. Erskine House, which was the original hospital building, needed extensive work to continue as a working hospital. The building was sold as part of the vision to modernize Erskine. The new Erskine Home building was occupied in 2000, with 180 residents being moved the short distance from Mar Hall. The Hall was then converted into a 5-star hotel called the Earl of Mar, later known as Mar Hall. It opened in 2004

Modernisation & Expansion
More recently, Erskine's role has since expanded to meet the changing needs of the Veteran Community and some serving personnel. It now cares for any ex-service people and their spouses, who might be facing the challenges of long-term or degenerative health conditions. It also provides convalescent care for those recovering from illness - and provides hotel and support services for the Army's Personnel recovery Centre, at its Gilmerton Home in Edinburgh.

The current CEO is Wing Commander Ian Cumming MBE. He and his Executive Management Team, oversee Erskine as it enters a phase of enhancing and expanding its services to meet changing need. Erskine is very much seen as a centre of excellence in Veterans Care & Support. Erskine will increasingly collaborate with other charities and government and is investigating the possibility of creating new venues across Scotland.

VISION & MISSION

Erskine has a charitable Vision which sees:

A Scotland in which all Veterans and their families, are valued and respected and where high quality care & support, enable them to maximise their potential and quality of life.

In order to play their part in reaching that national end-state, Erskine has the following Mission:

To lead by collaborative example, in shaping, developing and delivering outstanding, person-centred care, accommodation & holistic support - so that Veterans in Scotland are valued and enjoy a sense of fulfilment in every phase of post-Service life.

These resonate with Scottish Government strategies Reshaping Care for Older People and A Strategy for our Veterans which sees more charities working together to meet the holistic support needs of Veterans of all ages.

Erskine Home
In 2000-01, the charity moved to two new purpose built sites in the town of Erskine. The Erskine Home was opened in 2000. The new flagship building replaced the original hospital building and is situated on grounds by the Erskine Bridge. This centre, doubles as the Charity's HQ and cost £16m. It provides assisted living, nursing and dementia care on a long term and respite basis. It has 180 beds available and is the Charity's largest unit.. Prince Charles, the charity's patron, opened the unit and unveiled a stone plaque to commemorate the opening.

Erskine Park Home
The Erskine Park Home opened in 2006. It offers care for 40 residents and specializes in dementia care. It is situated again within rural parkland by the Erskine Bridge. The Princess Royal has maintained her strong links with the charity and once again opened this Erskine based unit.

Erskine Edinburgh Home
The Erskine Edinburgh Home was opened in 2001. It is situated in Gilmerton and has capacity for 88 residents and additionally provides hotel accommodation and support to younger Service people passing through the Personnel Recovery Centre. This was the charity's first unit outside the Erskine area. This was also opened by the Princess Royal.

Erskine Glasgow Home
The Erskine Glasgow Home was opened by the Princess Royal in 2007. It is situated in Anniesland and has space for 46 residents.

Veterans' Accommodation
Erskine has also rebuilt 50 veterans' cottages within the old hospital grounds at Erskine to house ex-service members and their families. It recently completed building 5 assisted living apartments for elderly veterans who seek to remain independent but close to expert staff. Erskine is also building a 24 apartment complex for younger Veterans without a home

Training & Support
Erskine has long prided itself on providing training and career opportunities for Veterans. It once employed Veterans within its garden centre and furniture factory. However, it now provides support and training through collaboration with other organisations such as Citizens Advice Edinburgh, Shoulder to Shoulder and SSAFA

Most recently, Erskine entered into a partnership with Royal British Legion Industries to create "Scotland's Bravest Manufacturing Company" - which trains Veterans in precision engineering, printing and service industry skills. They operated from the former Erskine furniture factory building and trainees are accommodated in purpose-built apartments.

Reid Macewen Centre
This unit was first opened as a training and conference facility. It now offers "psychosocial support", recreational and community activities for Veteran on the West Coast who are struggling with social isolation and loneliness. It is housed within the historic stable building at the charity's HQ within the Bishopton Estate. It is jointly named after Sir John Reid, who gifted the mansion and gardens to the charity, and Sir William Macewen, the surgeon who pushed through the need for the hospital. As the building is Category B listed, the charity collaborated with Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund on the renovation. It was officially opened in June 2001 by Wendy Alexander MSP. Erskine intends to replicate centres like these in Central Scotland, Inverness, Aberdeenshire, Fife & Tayside. The service has been referred to by members in its video, as "Life-changing and life-saving"

ERSKINE VALUES
Erskine prides itself on not only caring for its Veterans, but caring about them too. They refer to wards as Houses and the "Admissions Team" has been replaced by a "Moving In Team". The ethos is that at Erskine, each Veteran lives in their own en-suite room, in their own "House." Staff and volunteers consider themselves privileged to work in Veterans' own homes, rather than have Veterans consider themselves to live in someone else's workplace. The Charity summarises its values as CARE: Communication, Accountability, Respect and Excellence which are highlighted in its short films  and Erskine Facebook page.

Funding
As Erskine is a charity it receives no government funding. It expends around £12M a year to support Veterans in need of care and support. Fundraising schemes are active throughout the year and in 2017 it was rated as Scotland's most effective fundraising charity by Civil Society Magazine. The charity hosts many events including an annual motorbike meet and classic car show. Veterans also partake in various woodwork and craft activities, with daily social activities and entertainment taking place in "The Bunker.  The charity gratefully accept the help of volunteers from the public..

Listed buildings
The original hospital building was called Erskine House and is a Category A listed building. It is now the Mar Hall Hotel. There is a piggery, a stables yard (now The Reid Macewen Centre) and some other small buildings which also have listed status.