Erskine veterans are handed £18k donation from Memoria charity

The Erskine Veterans Charity is to be honoured with a dedicated memorial at Memoria’s Paisley Woodside Cemetery and Crematorium.

Parent company Memoria Group has also generously donated over £18,000 to the Renfrewshire-based charity – the largest single donation in the ongoing relationship.

The funds, which were raised through Memoria’s participation in the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management National Recycling of Metals Scheme, will help support Erskine’s 1,000 veterans each year.

Through this initiative, metals and orthopaedic implants are sensitively recovered following cremation with the consent of bereaved families.

Michael Corish, Memoria’s group commercial director and manager Katrina Johnston met with Erskine’s Caitlin Brown, pictured, to present the charity with the funds.

Ms Johnston told the Express: “I am delighted Erskine has been chosen to receive this funding.

“My dad, Thomas Duffy Forbes MBE, was a member of the 207 City of Glasgow Battery Royal Artillery – Glasgow Gunners TA, for three decades after completing his national service.

“The veterans community is very close to my heart and I am very proud to be part of the Memoria team making such a donation.”

Jamieson Hodgson, deputy CEO at Memoria said: “Memoria Paisley Woodside Memorial Park and Crematorium has been proudly serving the families of Paisley since 1845 (cemetery) and 1938 (crematorium).

“In a year that marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, we see it as only fitting that we show our support to those who served at the highest level.

“We are proud and honoured to make this donation to Erskine Veterans Charity, and to help make sure Erskine is there when those who served us all may need it most.”

As Scotland’s foremost provider of care for veterans and their spouses, Erskine Veterans Charity provides nursing, residential and dementia care homes throughout Scotland.

“It also assists younger veterans who need help to begin the next chapter of their lives, offering social, recreation and training facilities at the Erskine Reid Macewen Activity Centre. The Veterans Village in Bishopton has 44 cottages for veterans and their families as well as five Assisted living apartments and 23 transitional supported accommodation apartments – supporting veterans of all ages.

Sara Bannerman, Erskine head of fundraising and communications, added: “We are delighted with the wonderful support we have once again received from the Memoria Paisley Woodside Cemetery and Crematorium and thank everyone involved in the initiative who made the donation possible.

“We also look forward to working with the team over the next few months on developing the dedicated Erskine Garden of Remembrance.”

To find out more about Erskine Veterans Charity’s work, visit its website at www.erskine.org.uk