Joy as cash help is set to continue

A Paisley-based service that’s designed to ease financial stress for people living with a degenerative neurological condition has been given a £340k boost.

The Scottish Huntington’s Association ( SHA) has secured the cash from a variety of sources to run its Financial Wellbeing Service for another three years.

Its financial team works with individuals and families living with HD in a bid to advise them on benefits and guide them through the complex world of personal and family financial planning.

Over the past four years they have helped HD families secure a total of £2.5 million in extra income, or more than £2500 per family every year, the charity, which is located in Linwood Road, says.

SHA chief executive John Eden said: “The debilitating nature of HD means that people’s working lives are cut short leaving them relying on a variety of benefits.

“This means as well as having a life shortening condition, 67 per cent of families affected by HD also exist on income below the national average and 33 per cent live below the poverty line.

“This service is proving vital in helping families take the stress out of trying to negotiate the benefits system and get people what they are entitled to.”

SHA supports HD families through a national network of specialists and youth support team, as well as its finance arm.

HD is a complex condition with symptoms that typically begin to develop between the ages of 30 and 50.

It causes three main groups of symptoms: changes to thinking processes, a type of early onset dementia, loss of muscle control and involuntary movements which lead to loss of speech and swallowing, along with mental illness.

The Financial Wellbeing Service is being supported by the Henry Smith Charity (£178,500), Robertson Trust (£105,000), RS MacDonald Trust (£ 36,000), Zurich Insurance (£15,0000 and the Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks (£5,000).

Mo re i n f o rma t i o n is available online at hdscotland.org