A Scottish Asthma charity is delighted to have received assets worth £255,138 with additional funds of £14k to continue to provide practical support to people with asthma across Scotland and also fund asthma research.
Trustees, staff and volunteers at Asthma and Allergy Foundation announced that the charity has been gifted assets and cash sum by W Stuart Sutherland’s Trust. They say the total gift to the charity, which specialises in providing evidence-based health information, confidential advice, and practical support to people with asthma, their families, and carers, will make a deep impact on Asthma and Allergy Foundation’s goal to reach more families battling with poorly controlled asthma across Scotland.
The generous act of philanthropy comes from W Stuart Sutherland’s Trust, which was set up for the furtherance of the treatment of and research into asthma and other chest related diseases and complaint within the Highland Region and elsewhere in Scotland and the United Kingdom.
The trustees of W Stuart Sutherland’s Trust have taken the difficult decision to wind up the Trust and transfer its assets worth £255,138 with additional funds of £14k to Asthma and Allergy Foundation that has similar aims and objectives.
Trustees of Asthma and Allergy Foundation said the funds would be used to continue to provide vital support to people with asthma across Scotland and the charity would carry out a dedicated asthma management project benefitting people with asthma in the Highland Region to fulfil the wishes of Late W S Sutherland. They would be working with families, schools, the Highland Council, the NHS, and many other partners to deliver these outcomes.
Making the announcement, Martina Chukwuma-Ezike, chief executive officer of Asthma and Allergy Foundation said: "It was a huge surprise when the initial letter came from the trustees of W S Sutherland trust, and she was delighted because the trustees saw a perfect fit between Asthma and Allergy Foundation and W Stuart Sutherland Trust”.
Martina also added that: “whilst very excited at the prospect, we took our time to carefully consider this remarkable gift, to ensure we would make the best use of it to provide practical support to people with asthma and improve health outcomes, before going through all the process of completing the necessary paperwork for the safe transfer of the assets and funds.
Denis Pinto, a trustee of the organisation said, As Trustees of Asthma and Allergy Foundation, we are delighted to have received the assets from W S Sutherland trusts. This helps us significantly in ensuring our organisation can continue to provide support services to people with asthma especially children and young people across Scotland and their families.
Alpin Stewart, a trustee of W Stuart Sutherland Trust explained: “the Trustees had over a number of years found it difficult to stimulate applications to the Trust within the Trust purposes. They were therefore pleased to find that the purposes of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation were more or less directly aligned with those set out in the late Mr Sutherland’s Will and the fact that the Foundation too operated in the north of Scotland made it the preferred charity when the Trustees took the decision to wind up the W Stuart Sutherland Trust”.
Martina said: "We are elated that this has been made possible through the kind generosity of late Mr W Stuart Sutherland and his family. This would give Asthma and Allergy Foundation the opportunity to reach many more people with asthma, transform the numbers the charity can work with in future, save lives and fund asthma research towards finding a cure for this life-threatening condition"
For more information about our work or to support Asthma and Allergy Foundation, call our Aberdeen
office on 01224 973001, Glasgow office on 01415 010539, Edinburgh office on 01316 090264 email: info@asthmaandallergy.org.uk, or visit: www.asthmaandallergy.org.uk.