THE Kelso Branch of Legion Scotland is making life much easier for a whole lot of people from disabled ex-servicemen and women, to less mobile older folk and the very young in prams with the installation of a new lift to reach the first floor function room.
The lift will be formally inaugurated by Lady Jane Grosvenor who will be joined by the hugely successful Scottish Wheelchair racer Samantha Kinghorn from near Gordon on Friday, October 3, at 6pm.
“This is a really positive and exciting development,” said Kelso Legion President Alasdair Hutton, a former TA Paratrooper and also the Legion’s Border Area President.
“As the long-standing President of the Kelso Over-Sixties Club, which meets in the upstairs room in the Legion, Lady Jane has been concerned about the need to improve facilities for older people and I have certainly been conscious of the need to make the place more congenial for injured servicemen and women since one of my young relatives lost his legs in an IED explosion in Afghanistan,” Alasdair said.
A number of groups use the upstairs function room in the Legion building which dates from the eighteenth century and at one time housed the town library and the lift has already proved its worth over the past couple of months since it was installed.
“The building was not constructed with disabled access in mind but I think we have managed to use what we have pretty well to make the upstairs accessible to people who have difficulty climbing the stairs for whatever reason and for the very young still in their prams,” said Alasdair.
“We were only able to contemplate the work because of a very generous contribution from Lady Jane’s Westminster Foundation for which we are immensely grateful.
“In addition to the lift we have also been able to install a disabled toilet to make life more comfortable so I hope these facilities will attract more people of all ages to use the Legion rooms.” In addition to the local tradesmen who carried out the work, some of the Legion’s own members have helped with the completion of the project.
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