Yesterday, the Princess Royal attended a service at Glasgow Cathedral to commemorate the 100th aniversery of Erskine, an organisation that cares for veterans. She also met invited guests, veterans, staff, supporters and volunteers at a reception in Barony Hall afterwards.
The service had a military theme with testimonies for Erskine from a Scott’s Guard veteran who lives on the Erskine estate and two students from Clydebank High School. Director of Music Andrew Forbes and The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland contributed the music. The main address was given by Reverend Jonathan Fleming, Minister of Erskine Parish Church of Scotland.
Anne also met with representatives from Glasgow University. She will puruse Erskine archived material university staff are working to preserve. Chairman Andrew Robertson. Chairman Andrew Robertson had this to say: “The Erskine Centenary Service of Commemoration is an opportunity for reflection and for recognition of the efforts of those who have gone before us and above all an opportunity to express our thanks to this generation and to all previous generations since 1916.”
Princess Anne is very familiar with the work done by Erskine and stated how impressed she was with this organisation: “I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Erskine over a good many years and it’s constantly evolving in many different ways and very successfully and every time I come, there’s always something new been happening.”
She continued by saying: “But a day like today is an opportunity to celebrate the fact that Erskine is still here – the very fact that people had the sense to create it in the first place and the quality of the people who are involved and the service that they gave – I was struck by how easily that could have been stopped.
“We know that the immediate response is important but we also know that continued support is even more vital and that’s what Erskine offers. Erskine is such a very special place and it’s been a pleasure to have the opportunity to see it at various points. The care, the love, the attention, the friendships remain the same and that’s a huge achievement.”
The Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers was founded on the 29th March 1916. It’s sole purpose, which has remained unchanged during this past century has been to care for amputees who served and were wounded on the frontlines. At the time, Erskine’s was a pioneer in the designing, manufacturing and fitting of artificial limbs.