 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 2346 in the name of Morris Corry on the 100th anniversary of Erskine. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I would ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press the request-to-speak buttons as soon as possible. I call on Morris Corry to open the debate around about seven minutes, please, Mr Corry. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is indeed a privilege to begin this member's business debate today, celebrating 100th anniversary of Erskine. I would like to thank all members who supported the motion in my name, which has allowed this debate to take place today. I'm also delighted today to welcome all the members from Erskine, both the residents and service users who are here present in the public gallery. I'm sure I can speak for the whole Parliament when I welcome them to Parliament and thank them for their service to our country. Erskine is often spoken about throughout the armed forces with great passion, gratefulness and held on the highest esteem. During the First World War, so great were the numbers coming home wounded from the trenches of the Western Front that the existing contemporary medical facilities were struggling to cope with the demand. Stretched a breaking point not only by the sheer quantity of men arriving from the battlefields of Belgium and France but also by the complexity of the wounds and the injuries these men had sustained in the world's first industrial war. It was decided that a hospital dedicated to the wounded would be required. So Erskine came to be. Founded by Sir William McEwen, the Regist Professor of Surgery at the University of Glasgow, under the name the Princess Louise Scottish hospital for limbless sailors and soldiers. The hospital opened its doors in October of 1916 with the official opening of the hospital taking place on 6 June 1917 at which the hospital's first patron, Princess Louise, made an appearance. What was then called Erskine House was chosen for the site after Thomas Aikman, the owner, offered free use of his mansion and gardens for the period of the war and for 12 years after it was declared over. Although Erskine hospital remained at this site after that period due to the generosity of Sir John Reid who bought the house and gardens and gifted it to charity, the Scottish public also showed the generosity towards our service personnel and veterans, a trait that survives to this day by donating the generous sum of £100,000 towards the founding of the hospital, a total of which today's money would be valued somewhere near £6 million. As her name suggests at first, the Erskine hospital mainly dealt with those who lost limbs in the service of their country, but Great Britain was solely reliant on artificial limbs from overseas, a situation which Sir William McEwen found intolerable. So working alongside a local shipbuilding company called Yarrow Shipbuilders based in Scotland, who not only lent their yard but also chose to have some of their finest craftsmen working in the design and construction of artificial limbs, Sir William and Yarrow's began to design and construct a new concept artificial limb known as the Erskine artificial limb. I am very fortunate enough to have actually been employed by Yarrow Group in the 1980s and I can tell you that their conceptual skills to this day are continued in many ways and areas of work. By December 1917, the hospital had treated 1,613 patients and of those they treated 1,126 required a new limb, and by 1920 there had been 9,500 artificial limbs fitted at the hospital, most of which were manufactured at the hospital's own workshops. Of course the needs of service and veterans community in Scotland have changed since the First World War and Erskine has changed to meet their needs. Erskine has gone on to care for over 85,000 veterans at their facilities across Scotland and, as I note in my motion, it is recognised that Erskine is considered as one of Scotland if not the world's foremost providers of care for veterans and their spouses. Erskine now provides services across a number of facilities in Scotland although not at the original Erskine house site, which was sold to fund the modernisation of the charity and is now a very well regarded hotel. Those new sites include the Erskine home, which the charity moved into two purpose-built sites in the town of Erskine. Opened in 2000 by the charity's current patron, Prince Charles Duke of Rossie, the new flagship building directly replaced the original hospital building, costing £16 million. The building provides nursing and dementia care on a long-term and respite basis to veterans. It has 180 beds available and is the biggest unit that the charity has. Also situated in Erskine itself is the Erskine mains home, which was opened in 2001 by the Princess Royal with 34 beds in this unit and is able to provide nursing and dementia care on a 24-hour basis. I commend to members of this chamber a visit to Erskine. I have to go there from time to time. I am very welcome to go there to visit various veterans. It is an experience that I relish and it is marvellous to see how they continue to allow veterans who have many or several disabilities, maybe just simply anodomani, but they continue on a normal life as possible. The staff give them the most wonderful care that you could ever imagine. Also, you get met with music in the reception area, you then transfer down a passageway past all sorts of pictures and memorabilia, which the residents themselves have put together, some they have brought from their own homes, but also recreating a shopping mall. That is to give them the feeling that they are at home, they are actually getting normal life, and it includes even a cafe and a fish and chips. I do recommend the fish and chips members to you. The Erskine park home itself was opened in 2006 by the Princess Royal and offers care for 40 residents, I beg your pardon, and specialises in dementia care. I do visit this regularly because I have a brother-in-law who has been in there for three years suffering from PICS disease, who was a serviceman in the Middle East, and I must say that the care he does receive is absolutely excellent. I have also been involved where I have had to help constituents in my area in Argyll and Bute in about half a dozen cases where we have moved them to Erskine because they do need that care and they get that feeling of comradeship and this feeling of veterans, and I know that the minister will agree with me. It is something very special that we enjoy and veterans on this side of the house also know that too. They also built 50 veterans cottages in the last few years within the old hospital grounds at Erskine to house ex-service members and their families, and this gives the independence so much needed. As you know, as we get older, we still like and value our independence, and this is what the Erskine team have allowed to happen. There is support there if they need it, but equally they stand back and allow them to live their own lives, which is very important. As I mentioned before, the charity no longer just has a presence in Erskine itself, but has centres right across Scotland, including the Erskine Edinburgh home, which opened in 2001 in Gilmourton and has a capacity for 88 residents. There is also the Erskine Glasgow home base in Anisland, which has a space for 46 residents and was opened in 2007. Erskine also enjoys a partnership arrangements that have in place with care homes in Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness, meaning that veterans across the country can receive their support while remaining in their local communities, and that is terribly, terribly important. Erskine, I believe, has a connection now in every region of Scotland, so I would encourage members, no matter where in Scotland they represent, to get in touch and find out how they can help Erskine's work. To sum up, I will use Erskine's own words from her own website. It says that our service personnel display the highest levels of bravery and courage throughout the world, and it is only right that Erskine is there for them should they need support in the future. I believe that this sums up brilliantly why I am so thankful that Erskine exists, and so I thank them for the past 100 years of service to our veterans and to their families, and I wish them very well for the next 100 years. I call on Claire Hockey to be followed by Maurice Golden. Around about four minutes, please, Ms Hockey. I would like to thank Maurice Corry for bringing forward this debate and giving members the opportunity to congratulate Erskine on the anniversary of its foundation and to commend the fantastic work that has been done over the past century. The First World War saw battlefield carnage on an unprecedented scale. At recent remembrance ceremonies, we rightly commemorate those who served in that war and never returned. The figures of local war dead that we are reminded of are horrific to contemplate, 13,740 from Glasgow, 5,281 from Edinburgh, 2,200 from Perth and 1,448 from Dumfries. However, in addition to those who fell, thousands returned from the front lines, maimed and broken men. The First World War brought injuries and medical conditions, which had been largely unknown in civilian life, bringing significant challenges to doctors and nurses at the time. There were no antibiotics to treat injuries, contaminated with polluted mud of the trenches and disinfectants were crude and sparsely available. Nursing at this time was exhausting, sometimes dangerous work and often at the very edge of medical science. The patients serving near the front were also susceptible to infections and disease, as well as mental health issues relating to the trauma that they witnessed. Radical solutions to extreme injuries emerged through sheer necessity, and as a dramatic example, medics experimented with direct blood transfusions, affected by simply linking patient and donor. As hospitals struggled to keep up with the demands of soldiers and sailors returning from war with terrible injuries, many with missing limbs, it became apparent that there was the need for a large modern war hospital in Scotland. While the building was secured in 1916, as it was being transformed into hospital, patients were admitted to Colleen Castle in Asia. The first matron at Erskine, Agnes Cernochyn—and I do forgive me if I mispronounced that—worked tirelessly during the transition period, spending six months travelling between the two sites, and during this time she combined looking after patients, recruiting staff, advising the hospital committee on equipment and furniture and liaising with the war office. When the hospital opened in October 1916, Agnes had a full staff ready to accommodate 200 patients and oversaw the care of over 3,000 by the end of the war. At that time, when the full contribution of nurses to the war effort often went unrecognised, she was awarded with the Royal Red Cross second class in recognition of her work and diligence. Erskine hospital was set up specifically to treat those who suffered the loss of a limb, and quickly staff found that they had to innovate and seek creative solutions to the difficulties that were faced by servicemen. A limb manufacturing and fitting service was established at Erskine hospital, who formed a unique partnership with Clyde ship builders, harnessing some of their best craftsmen, and eventually some of the patients were trained in the manufacture of limbs themselves. Erskine has always been about more than the physical treatment of injuries, though, and at a time when many professionals still believed that shell shock was the result of physical injury to nerves, hospitals such as Erskine promoted rehabilitation and therapeutic treatments. Teaching servicemen how to adapt to having an artificial limb and the trades and work that they could undertake with one was as important as their provision of physical healthcare. The developments that were made by facilities such as Erskine in those early days have changed the way that both the casualties of war and civilians have been treated around the world ever since. Although I am sure that we would all prefer that man's inhumanity to his fellow man had not brought about the need for such a facility, we can only be thankful that it was there for the traumatised servicemen and women who needed it then and since, and it continues to deliver a very high standard of nursing and social care to its residents. Erskine hospital has now cared for over 85,000 veterans in Scotland and is still an innovative and pioneering charity. I congratulate it on its 100th anniversary and wish the residents and staff well for the future. I apologise to members in advance for having to leave the debate shortly due to a prior commitment. I would like to commend Maurice Corry for securing this member's debate and I congratulate Erskine on reaching this monumental milestone. 100 years ago this year, my great-grandfather, William Duncan, chose to enlist at the Albert Institute, which is now the Macmanus Galleries in Dundee. When he was asked his age, he replied 16. The sergeant then told him to take a walk round the block and come back when he was 19. He duly did so, and this time, when he was asked his age, he replied 19. A little over two years later, on 30 August 1918, while fighting near Labassee canal in Belgium with the 42nd Gordon Highlanders, he was injured and shot in the back. Following an operation in Paris, the bullet was removed from his back, which incidentally we still keep to this day. He was sent for convalescence to a boin in Aberdeenshire, where he received the very best food, care and attention to aid his recovery. My great-grandfather received the sort of care and support that Erskine has provided to over 85,000 veterans like him over the past 100 years. This outstanding dedication to our nation's veterans serves as a reminder to us all that honouring and supporting our veterans is an integral aspect of public life. This motion comes at a particularly relevant time of year when we remember those who sacrificed so much for our country. Honoring our war veterans serves as a reminder that freedom is not free and that veterans should hold a distinguished place in our society for their sacrifices. Wearing a poppy is part of this recognition. That is why I recently backed the Scottish and English football team's decision to wear remembrance poppies on their uniforms, despite the ridiculous ban imposed by FIFA. While FIFA has already begun to take disciplinary action against both teams, I remain unwavering in my support for their decision. During this time of year, I am reminded that there is always more that we can do to honour our veterans. Remembering schools beyond simply wearing a poppy is about doing what we can to support the veterans living in our society today. This is where the work of Erskine has made a significant impact, providing housing and a range of medical services to thousands of veterans every year. Erskine offers unrivaled care and support. It is important to note that Erskine was founded on the tenants of selfless service. As highlighted in the motion, the initial services provided by Erskine were enabled by the generosity of Sir John Reid, who gifted his first residential house to the charity. It is the foundation of kindness and generosity that has evidently shaped the character and motivation of the charity. This past July, I was fortunate to attend the Erskine centenary summer gallery. The event was a great success. I enjoyed meeting the staff to hear more about their work and their needs as a charity. I look forward to working with the charity and exploring further opportunities going forward. In closing, I offer my full support to this motion and thank Erskine for her continued service to our nation's heroes. Jamie Greene I take this opportunity to congratulate Morse Corrie on bringing this debate to the chamber. It is a great pleasure to take part in it and also to welcome those visitors to the chamber today as well. Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure of attending a Armistice Day service at the Erskine home in Bishopton, along with Derek Mackay MSP. We joined them as they took part in a service outside in the garden at the memorial stone in the public area of the home. It was one of those fortunate days where the sun was shining, it was very cold and bitterly windy, but the sun was out and it was such a beautiful day to share that experience with them. We were joined there by local residents of that home and also their friends and family. It was my first experience of taking part in an Armistice Day or Remembrance Day event since my election. It was one of those unique opportunities where I had a chance to participate in the re-flame process and just joined them in that. What struck me most was chatting to the residents of the home after the formal proceedings. I was sitting next to a chap called Jack Mackay, and I hope that Jack is not too worried that I would talk about him in the chamber. He is 98 years of age, and he is from Paisley. He was in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regiment. He was really excited not just about the ceremony that we took part in, but he was very excited about getting his dram afterwards. He absolutely insisted that I join him for a dram. I tried to explain my car—I hope that you are not here today, Jack, because my car was outside. I will admit that I did not drink the whiskey that I had in my glass, but I pretended to be as best I could. On the way out, however, the real experience that struck me about that day the most was as I was walking back to my car, just pondering over what I had taken part in, and actually feeling the immense pride of being able to participate in that event. I met another resident, Mr Peter Knowles. Peter is 89, and he is another veteran. He had laid a wreath just a few moments before he was dressed in his finest tweed jacket in a pair of tartan trws that I would only aspire to. I bumped into him on my way back to the car, and he stopped me and said, young man—which was a great pleasure in itself—but he said, young man, I want to tell you something, I want to share my story with you, and he did. We stood there for 20-25 minutes while he shared his life story. I have to say that there were tears in my eyes when I walked back to my car. He said to me, let me tell you the greatest lesson that I can give you as an old man near the end of his life. He said, life is all about people, and what I have here in this home are the people around me. I struggled to keep it together, but I have to say that that memory has stuck with me. Over that weekend I went to further events, a couple in Greenock, where there was less kind to it. It seemed like the heavens were weeping that day. That whole weekend struck me as to the importance that those events have to it. We are not just commemorating, we are not just wearing poppies for the sake of it, but we remember our veterans. I should add, just as I am short on time, that veterans are not just people in their elder years. Veterans are young men and women who have served. It is important that in this debate we acknowledge that veterans come in all shapes and sizes and ages. It is our duty as political parties and as parliamentarians to ensure that they are adequately looked after through health, housing and employment opportunities. I would like to see if we can work with the Government on any opportunities to ensure that veterans are helped in Scotland. I will close by thanking my colleague for bringing the debate to the chamber. It is a great privilege to be part of it. I really hope that I will spend more time in the Erskine home meeting more residents and hearing more of their fantastic, inspiring stories over the course of my next few years as an MSP in the West region. I wish them very well. I now move to the wind-up speech. I call Keith Brown. Around about seven minutes or so, please Cabinet Secretary. I also commend Maurice Corry on securing this debate and say that I wholeheartedly support the motion that he has submitted. It is fitting, of course, that the Scottish Parliament pays formal tribute to all those staff and volunteers, many of whom are here today, for the excellent care that they provide to veterans and their families. As has just been said, it really is about people looking after people. That is the crucial role that Erskine plays. I would also like to take the opportunity to congratulate Erskine on her 100th anniversary and commend them for their many, many achievements. I have visited Erskine on a number of occasions, both at Erskine and also in Edinburgh. In June, though, I was privileged to be able to attend Erskine's commemoration service at Glasgow Cathedral. It was an extremely moving service. The deep personal attachment of residents to Erskine came across clearly. I remember one particular test that was given by somebody—I will not mention the name, but I am sure that all the people who work at Erskine will know exactly who I am talking about, who had been with the Scots Guards. It was in the Falklands and had a terrible experience afterwards in terms of his period after he left the forces and that of his family, young children, real problems with homelessness and getting gainful employment. It really was, according to his story, when he went to Erskine that he made a huge difference in his life. In fact, he is now a senior employee at Erskine. However, just to hear that story, he was barely a dry eye in the cathedral listening to the way that Erskine had played a part in transforming that individual's life and not only his life but that of his family as well. I have also been very impressed by the links that Erskine has built up with local schools. School children speak with affection and respect about the value of Erskine and the contribution of veterans. Just as Jamie Greene was kind of pinioned, given the story of one particular veteran, veterans like nothing better than to tell their stories. It is really rewarding to see young children listening to those stories and taking on board some of the experience. It is vital that we do not forget that experience. A number of members have mentioned that Erskine has cared for 85,000 veterans since it opened its doors on 10 October 1916. As has been mentioned, not least by Maurice Corry, the work that was carried out in developing prosthetic limbs led most famously to the Erskine limb. We have heard about the industrial kind of background that there was to that. By the end of World War 1, 2,697 men had been fitted with artificial limbs, designed and made using the skills, as we have heard, of the artisans from the Clyde shipyards. However, Erskine, of course, adapted with the times moving from the Princess Louise Scottish hospital to develop a superb network of modern care facilities at Bishopton, Edinburgh and Glasgow. I have been to those facilities many times, and I have seen the first-hand care that is being provided. It is true to say as well that residents have very diverse needs. Today's Erskine's oldest resident, Janet Enterkin, is a remarkable 103-year-old. She is the wife of the late Thomas Enterkin, who served with the Highlanders, Seaforth, Gordon's and Cameron's. Also, Lance Corporal Ernest Brine is Erskine's oldest veteran. I hope I pronounce his surname correctly. Ernest is 100 years old and served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in France, so even older than Jack Mackay, would you believe, is 100 years old and served in France during the Second World War. The average age is 83. There are seven of those under the age of 65. The youngest resident being 42, although, again, Jamie Greene rightly says, veterans come substantially younger than that in many cases as well, and many of those have received support from Erskine. It is a real pleasure to see some of the residents and employees this evening here in the public gallery. For our part, the Scottish Government is very proud to work in partnership with Erskine. It received more than £30,000 from the Scottish veterans fund since it was established in 2008. That has helped to fund extended lunch club provision for residents, research into veterans' needs and other worthwhile projects. Erskine, of course, works closely with the NHS and other local service providers so that residents receive the best possible care. One thing that always strikes me is the width of the corridors. It is very important in a facility like that to have that kind of width. I have had the experience of the companionship even until the very game of bingo being played in Erskine in the past. It is the atmosphere of the place, as has been mentioned by one or two of those who have contributed so far. It is the atmosphere of the place and that feeling of comradeship, which is so important. Going forward, the future is very bright for Erskine. It has a strong committee team led by Steve Conway. I will quickly mention that he is an extra marine. Erskine is held in great affection by surrounding communities. Plans are underway for more independent and supported living accommodation. They are also planning to develop the camaraderie that I spoke of with the local community and with a new facility for veterans from the area to join in activities. A huge amount is done by Erskine. I commend the speeches that are made by Clare Haughey and all the other members who have spoken more in school and Jamie Greene for the comments that they have made and also being able to demonstrate the level of support that there is in the Parliament. As it is with veterans organisations generally, it is important to veterans organisations like Erskine to know that they have the consensual unanimous support of everybody in this chamber for the work that they carry out. It is only right that they do it because the people that have potentially sacrificed everything have given a huge deal to all of us in the efforts that they have made in putting their life on the limit risk. It is only right that we give the best possible care to them. I wish Erskine, as other members have done every success in the next 100 years, to have an unmatched legacy that has transformed the lives of so many people offering that sanctuary for veterans and their families. I am very confident that they will continue to provide exceptional care for veterans well into the future.