Disability History Month is the perfect time to celebrate our charity’s history.
In the early 1990s a small group of families in Scotland had grown frustrated at travelling to London to get specialist therapy for their children who were living with cerebral palsy. Through their hard work, the Bobath Scotland centre opened its doors in Glasgow on 2 December 1995. You can read more about our story here.
Newspaper articles from the centre’s archives show the astonishing fundraising effort made by those families who successfully raised £1 million so the charity could open its doors. You can view larger images of the articles here:
Prominent among our founders was Allan Burns, who is featured in two of these articles. Without his tireless campaigning, our charity would simply not have existed. His passion, energy and commitment were central in recruiting like-minded families to the fundraising drive, sourcing funds, liaising with the NHS, finding premises and ensuring the clinical excellence of the new centre.
Sadly, Allan Burns passed away in 2019. Allan’s wife, Jeanette, and their daughter, Marion, are still closely involved with Cerebral Palsy Scotland.
During Disability History Month, we honour Allan’s contribution to Cerebral Palsy Scotland and the cerebral palsy community in Scotland, and send our gratitude to all our founding families.