Dame Katherine Grainger and Patron Sarah Winckless champion our cause at Women of Scotland Lunch 2025

The wonderful Women of Scotland Lunch has been a real highlight of the year so far, raising £25,000 for Scottish Huntington’s Association.

Hundreds of guests heard from three inspirational women, including our Patron Sarah Winckless MBE who delivered a powerful and moving speech about the impact of Huntington’s disease on families, including her own, and the need for specialist services.

“As a child without Scottish Huntington’s Association I was isolated, I was caring for my mum but I couldn’t cope. We didn’t know what was happening to her; we didn’t have the language we needed, we just knew she was different,” said Sarah, who tested positive for the faulty gene that causes Huntington’s disease in her final year at Cambridge University.

The second speaker was Sarah Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Carnegie UK. She previously had a 25-year career in the civil service, latterly as Director General for Organisational Development and Operations at the Scottish Government.

The final talk was by Dame Katherine Grainger, Sarah’s good friend and one of the most successful Olympians, recently appointed to the British Olympian Association. Sarah and Katherine competed together as part of the invincible Team GB World Champion rowing squad of 2005 and 2006.

“I cheered for Sarah when she won her Olympic medal but I’m never prouder than when I hear her speaking about something so important,” said Katherine.

Hosted by TV presenter Jackie Bird, guests at the lunch included Scottish Huntington’s Association Trustees Professor Lorna Milne, Dr Marie Short MBE, Margaret Moncrieff and Gillian McNab; Highland Clinical Lead Professor Zosia Miedzybrodzka; and family members Sharon Marshall and Aiva Martin.

The WoSL was founded in 1958 to celebrate women who have made a difference in their community in Scotland.

 “Our 66th lunch was a huge success, raising vital funds for Scottish Huntington’s Association and raising awareness of this devastating illness. The 365 women who attended were inspired by the incredible speakers and enjoyed networking with friends old and new, whilst donating generously for this worthwhile cause,” said WoSL Chair Barbara Allison.

With donations still coming in, the final total of money raised will be announced on our social media channels soon. In the meantime, we thank the WoSL committee for choosing Scottish Huntington’s Association as its 2025 charity and to their guests for such kindness.

CEO of Scottish Huntington’s Association, Alistair Haw, said: “The Women of Scotland Lunch was an incredibly meaningful event for our community and those who attended, and we thank its committee for choosing to support our work.

“It is important to raise awareness about Huntington’s disease, a hugely complex, widely misunderstood and extremely difficult to manage condition, so there is more understanding about why the specialist services we provide are not some ‘nice to have’ option. They are an absolute necessity for families throughout Scotland.

“We’re also hugely grateful to Sarah and Katherine – it’s difficult to think of a more powerful double act advocating for the Huntington’s community.”