{"id":492914,"date":"2025-10-12T06:29:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T06:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/492914\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T06:29:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T06:29:29","slug":"fury-as-scotlands-leading-mnd-charity-in-turmoil-amid-claims-of-mismanagement-at-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/492914\/","title":{"rendered":"Fury as Scotland’s leading MND charity in turmoil amid claims of ‘mismanagement at top’"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Businesses go down every year but these people are dealing with people\u2019s lives and my life matters.”\"markMND sufferer Mark Sommerville and his wife Erika<\/p>\n

Scotland’s leading motor neurone disease<\/a> charity is fighting for survival after the exit of its CEO and massive staff cuts \u2013 with campaigners blaming mismanagement at the top.<\/p>\n

Mark Sommerville, 44, who was diagnosed with the incurable disease<\/a> two years ago, has accused MND Scotland of letting down sufferers.<\/p>\n

The charity<\/a> was plunged into turmoil last week, with all staff put at risk of redundancy and those who remain set to have their salaries cut to 80 per cent of their current level.<\/p>\n

It follows the sudden departure of CEO Rachel Maitland in September \u2013 followed swiftly by chairman of the board of trustees<\/a> Adrian Murphy early this month.<\/p>\n

Both were appointed in 2021. Annual accounts show, as of 2024, the charity<\/a> is in deficit of nearly \u00a31.4million \u2013 up from \u00a3188,000 four years ago.<\/p>\n

\"MarkMark Sommerville with his family.(Image: UGC)<\/p>\n

Activist Mark, from Uddingston, Lanarkshire, who previously won praise from Keir Starmer for his campaign to boost MND research<\/a>, hit out: \u201cThis is mismanagement at a high level at MND Scotland.<\/p>\n

“Businesses go down every year but these people are dealing with people\u2019s lives and my life matters.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly feel they don\u2019t care. For them [the CEO and the chairman] to just leave without explanation speaks volumes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dad of four added: \u201cThe only people that are going to lose out here are people dying with a horrible disease<\/a>. I might be dead in six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark – who married his partner of 22 years Erika last year and is father to Olivia, 12, and Cole, eight – was originally told he might only live for 18 months after his diagnosis which came following pulses in his arm. The 44-year-old has since lost use of his hands from the debilitating muscle-wasting condition.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"MNDLast year, Mark married his partner of 22 years Erika<\/p>\n

It\u2019s feared the charity<\/a> cash crisis could put its services for patients and their families, such as financial support and free counselling, at long-term risk.<\/p>\n

As of this month, a system of grants MND Scotland offered to sufferers to improve quality of life, make home modifications and help with living costs has been \u201cpaused\u201d, according to its website. MND Scotland told the Sunday Mail<\/a> its wellbeing grants, which are delivered in partnership with My Name’5 Doddie Foundation have all been delivered for the 2025-26 financial year.<\/p>\n

We previously told how Mark set up his own charity, the Mark Sommerville Foundation<\/a>, to help fund research of treatments and a potential cure, raising tens of thousands of pounds.<\/p>\n

It comes after the My Name\u20195 Doddie Foundation \u2013 established in honour of late Scots rugby star Doddie Weir who died in 2022<\/a> after a battle with MND \u2013 last week urgently demanded a fresh injection of research funding by ministers.<\/p>\n

Former England rugby captain Lewis Moody<\/a> is the latest figure from the sport to be diagnosed with MND. Yesterday it was revealed a fundraiser for the 47-year-old had already raised \u00a3150,000.<\/p>\n

\"DoddieDoddie Weir\"RugbyRugby star Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with MND (Image: ITV)<\/p>\n

An spokesperson for MND Scotland said: \u201cWe share the MND community\u2019s frustration that there are currently no meaningful treatments or a cure.<\/p>\n

“MND Scotland was founded to support everyone affected by MND across the country. The support we provide to people living with this disease, and their families, is not available through statutory support and is not provided by any other charity.<\/a><\/p>\n

“While we undoubtedly face a challenging time, we are passionate, committed and determined to continue for the MND community in Scotland<\/a> that needs us.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn 2024\/25, MND Scotland supported 96 per cent of people with MND in Scotland. Our team of advisors provided personalised assistance, helping people to maximise their income and generating \u00a31.4million for people affected by MND.<\/p>\n

“We provided over \u00a3586,000 in grants to individuals and 1560 hours of counselling.”<\/p>\n

Scotland\u2019s charities regulator OSCR said: \u201cWe are currently engaging with MND Scotland in line with our standard policies and procedures to understand their current situation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Businesses go down every year but these people are dealing with people\u2019s lives and my life matters.”MND sufferer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,12450,918,4884,712,12550,111493,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-492914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-charity","10":"tag-glasgow","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-scotland","13":"tag-sunday-mail","14":"tag-uddingston","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115359788037575532","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}