page_title: Erskine (charity)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Erskine (charity) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Artificial hands made for Erskine Hospital 1918, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow
context_page_description: Erskine is a Veterans care charity in Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland. It provides long-term nursing, respite, dementia and end-of-life medical care for veterans of the British Armed Forces who have settled in Scotland. The charity also provides a range of individual and family accommodation and Veterans Activity Centres. The charity opened and established itself as Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers in 1916. Its name was then shortened to Erskine Hospital and then simply "Erskine" in later years. It was opened due to the need to treat the thousands of military personnel who lost their limbs in the First World War. The charity has gone on to offer help to British veterans of the First World War and every subsequent war. It has gone on to become the biggest ex-services facility in the country.
context_section_description: A need for a dedicated war hospital was apparent during the First World War, as hospitals were struggling to keep up with the demands of the many limbless soldiers and sailors returning from war. It was then thought that Scotland should have a large, modern war hospital to cope with these type of injuries. A charitable committee was formed after a meeting in Glasgow. Sir William Macewen, a chief surgeon, was at the forefront of pushing through the need for such a facility. He met with Sir Thomas Dunlop the Lord Provost of Glasgow, who was enthusiastic.
  The next stage was to find a location for the hospital in the west of Scotland. After reviewing several sites it was decided that Erskine would be the location. Thomas Aikman, the owner of Erskine House, which is 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. Then Sir John Reid, a charity committee member, bought the mansion house and gardens and gifted them to the charity. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll agreed to become the patron of the hospital and within a few weeks the Scottish public had donated £100,000 towards the facility.
  The hospital was opened on 10 October 1916 and had an official opening on 6 June 1917 with Princess Louise making an appearance.
caption: Artificial hands made for Erskine Hospital 1918, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow
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