Director
As the festive season approaches and we look ahead to 2025, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all our members for being part of the Haemophilia Scotland family. Your strength, resilience, and positivity continue to inspire everything we do. This year has brought its challenges and triumphs, and we are deeply grateful for the unwavering support of our members, volunteers, and supporters.
I would like to express my thanks to all the staff at the haemophilia centres across Scotland for their tireless work in treating members of our bleeding disorders community. From responding to patient queries we have raised, to promoting our events and services, and even taking time to attend and present at our member events, your continued support has been truly remarkable, and I wanted to recognise this once again.
I am very proud at what we have been able to achieve this year in terms of events and service to our members. One of our priorities for 2024 was to ensure that we provided more opportunities for members in remote areas to access our events and to ensure that we tailored events for specific groups within our wider community.
This focus led to the successful launch of our Join the Movement virtual physiotherapy programme in January, which exceeded expectations and prompted us to expand the number of classes beyond the original plan. These sessions enabled members from across the country to participate virtually, connecting with fellow members while learning exercises to improve their mobility and resilience. We are hopeful to secure funding to bring this programme back next year, allowing even more members to take part.
Throughout the year, we also hosted our women’s health conference, the Learn and Connect series with member meetups in Inverness, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, and more recently, our over-50s residential weekend. These events have been instrumental in bringing our members together and highlighting unmet needs that we will continue to advocate for in the future.
This year, we were pleased to welcome Maxie Cobern-Burke as our new Financial Wellbeing Officer. Maxie has quickly become an invaluable member of the team, supporting our members by answering questions, identifying eligibility for benefits and grants, and guiding them through the application process from start to finish. Next year, we plan to host several information sessions and webinars where members can learn more about the service and possible eligible benefits.
One of the most significant milestones this year was the publication of the long-awaited final report from the UK Infected Blood Inquiry in May. This report marks the culmination of decades of campaigning for justice and recognition for those infected and affected by the contaminated blood disaster. Haemophilia Scotland remains committed to supporting our affected members as the UK and devolved governments respond to the report’s recommendations. We will continue to advocate for their voices and concerns to be heard and ensure the government follows through on its recent acceptance, either in full or in principle, of the final report’s recommendations.
Looking ahead to 2025, we aim to build on this year’s achievements and are committed to running the Learn and Connect series again throughout the year. We also plan to organise, subject to funding, a Recently Diagnosed weekend event for families who have received a diagnosis within the last five years, as well as bring back the Join the Movement physiotherapy sessions later in the year. Further details on these and other events will be available on our website in the new year.
I hope everyone can enjoy some well-deserved peace and happiness with your families over the festive season. On behalf of the staff, trustees, and volunteers at Haemophilia Scotland, I would like to wish you all the very best for 2025.
The Haemophilia Scotland office is now closed and will be re-opening on Monday 6th January, 2025.
We are not running a specific Christmas appeal this year, as we’ve done in the past. However, some of our wonderful members have already reached out, asking how they can still support us during this festive season. If you’d like to make a meaningful contribution and help us continue our vital work, you can donate directly through JustGiving.