Members' Business — S5M- 02346 Maurice Corry: 100th Anniversary of Erskine

That Parliament welcomes the 100th anniversary of Erskine and congratulates it on reaching this important milestone; notes that the first Erskine Hospital, then The Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers, founded by Sir William MacEwen, the Regus Professor of Surgery at the University of Glasgow, was opened in October 1916, after it was decided that a dedicated hospital to the war wounded was required due to the large numbers of limbless soldiers and sailors returning from the war, which were overwhelming the existing services available; notes that Erskine House was chosen for the site after Thomas Aikman, the owner of Erskine House, which was 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, after which Sir John Reid bought the mansion house and gardens and gifted them to the charity; further notes that Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, agreed to become the patron of the hospital and within a few weeks the Scottish public had donated the generous sum of £100,000 towards the facility with the hospital having an official opening on 6 June 1917 with Princess Louise making an appearance; recognises that since that time Erskine has gone on to care for over 85,000 veterans and is now considered one of Scotland’s foremost providers of care for veterans and their spouses, providing a wide range of support for ex-service men and women, including providing 44 cottages for families to live independently; understands that Erskine now cares for over 1,000 residents each year at sites across the country; thanks the charity for its work over the last 100 years, and wishes Erskine the best for the next 100 years.