Saying goodbye to our Head of Fundraising

We’re very sad to announce that after 15 years as MND Scotland’s Head of Fundraising, Iain McWhirter is leaving us for a new, exciting opportunity as the Chief Executive of Revive MS Support.

Iain joined MND Scotland in December 2006 but had been involved with the charity since 2000, when his dad was diagnosed with MND.

Iain’s dad passed away just 19 months after he was diagnosed, and the support the family received from MND Scotland, spurred him on to get involved in our Fun Runs, conferences and AGMs as a supporter.

Then in 2006, the day he graduated from University with an MBA, the role of Fundraising Manager at the Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Association (as we were then known) was advertised.

With a background in sales, business administration and an enormous passion for the cause Iain joined the charity. His role developed into Head of Fundraising, leading and developing our fundraising strategy and building a team to grow and support the MND fundraising community.

When Iain first joined MND Scotland, we had just nine members of staff, raised £700,000 a year and almost nobody – apart from those affected – knew what MND was. Today, we are now a team of 28 people, our income sits at around £2.6 million a year and we are supporting more people and families living with MND than ever.

Iain has been instrumental in making this happening and we cannot thank him enough for his hard work, dedication, support and friendly face around the office. We know Revive MS Support are gaining an incredible new Chief Executive and we wish him the best of luck on this new adventure.

Iain said: “When I joined MND Scotland it felt like fate – I knew the charity well, and knew the skills and tools I’d spent the last year learning were just what it needed to grow.

“The charity has changed and grown so much over the past 15 years and it’s been a privilege to have been part of it. There are so many highlights it’s hard to pinpoint just a few.

“Before the Ice Bucket Challenge no one knew who we were – this was a game changer for the charity. Seeing this starting on social media in the US, then deciding to get a bag of ice, pour it over myself on video, and promote it as much as possible to see if people would actually join in, was surreal. Three weeks later we’d raised nearly £1/2 million (half our annual income at that time!) – but more importantly everyone had heard of MND/ALS. This success led to us winning Scotland’s Charity of the Year in 2015, which was incredible when nobody had heard of us only a few years before.

“The best part of my job has been meeting and working with so many amazing and truly inspirational people like Lucy Lintott, Gordon Aikman and so many others.

“There are honestly too many people to mention. The hardest part however has been the loss of so many of them. That’s what kept me – and so many of the team at MND Scotland – going. The only way to stop that loss will be to find a cure, and now there’s so much hope thanks to the MND-SMART clinical trial, and the £50 million contribution to MND research from the UK Government from the United to End MND campaign.

“So, while I will always be a lifelong supporter of MND Scotland, and will miss so much about this wonderful charity, I am also very excited to be joining the team at Revive MS Support to help make an impact for people living with another neurological condition. ”

Good luck Iain and thank you for everything!