ScotRail Alliance donates £280k to MND Scotland

After an amazing five year journey together, our partnership with the ScotRail Alliance has reached its final stop.

From helping to raise an enormous amount of awareness around motor neurone disease (MND) across Scotland, to far surpassing the initial fundraising goal of £150,000, we could not have foreseen the impact and transformational change that we would achieve together.

Thanks to the amazing fundraising efforts of staff, the generous donations of customers and hugely impactful gifts-in kind, (such as free advertising at stations and on ScotRail trains), at the end of the partnership, we are delighted to announce that the ScotRail Alliance has donated a total of £280,000, which will help us to continue to provide life changing services and fund vital research.

Originally announced in 2017 as a three year partnership before being extended for a further two years in 2020, over the five years of working together, the partnership has been embraced by railway staff in a way that no one could have imagined, with staff taking part in a range of activities including sponsored skydives, a trek across the Great Wall of China, abseils from the Forth Rail Bridge, walking on fire and broken glass, and ‘dress down’ days to help raise funds.

The money generated by the partnership has helped to fund vital research to find a cure for MND; fund the practical, emotional, and financial support MND Scotland gives to people affected by MND and raise awareness to create a valuable legacy through the partnership’s ‘Journey To A Cure’ campaign.

As well as successfully raising a huge amount of funds, through branding trains with the MND Scotland cornflower, lighting the iconic Glasgow Central Station clock in blue and helping MND Scotland to reach a brand-new audience through passionately promoting the partnership across ScotRail’s social media channels, the amount of awareness raised around both MND and the work of MND Scotland, throughout the duration of the partnership, has been astounding.

Speaking about the success of the partnership, MND Scotland CEO Rachel Maitland said: “Sadly, all good things must come to an end and on behalf of MND Scotland, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in the ScotRail Alliance for their hard work and commitment over the past five years, which has helped to make our partnership together a resounding success.

“Being able to reach and inform a larger audience about motor neurone disease is something that MND Scotland is constantly striving to achieve, and the amount of awareness raised around MND as a direct result of our partnership alone has been phenomenal.

“As well as helping to increase awareness, the donation of £280,000 is a truly amazing amount of money and a fantastic way to quantify the success that the ScotRail Alliance has achieved. MND Scotland is powered solely by the generosity of donors, and we would like to say well done to everyone at the ScotRail Alliance, along with their engaged community of customers, for raising such a fantastic total.”

In June 2021, the life and legacy of MND campaigner, Gordon Aikman, BEM, was honoured with ScotRail naming one of its iconic high-speed trains in his memory. The plaque is a tribute to everything Gordon achieved, and it will remain on the train indefinitely – a lasting legacy for Gordon and MND Scotland.

Alex Hynes, Managing Director of Scotland’s Railway, said: “It’s been overwhelming to see the generosity of our customers and your staff throughout our partnership with MND Scotland.

 “I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to donate £280,000 to MND Scotland over the past five years, but our partnership has been about so much more. 

“Through promotion of the fantastic work that MND Scotland do; by providing the charity with a visible presence in our stations through billboards and posters; branding our trains with the MND cornflower; and by proudly naming one of our iconic Inter7City high speed trains in honour of Gordon Aikman, we’ve helped to ensure that everyone in Scotland knows the life-changing impact MND has and what we can all do to make a difference. 

“Although our charity partnership with MND Scotland may have come to an end, the journey to a cure is ongoing.”

Help us continue to change the lives of people affected by MND by making a donation here and you can find more ways that support MND Scotland by visiting us here.