Family serves up the perfect Big Mac-donation

McDonald’s restaurants in Edinburgh have delivered a vital funding boost through their In The Community Foundation in support of families impacted by Huntington’s disease.

The £10,000 donation to Scottish Huntington’s Association comes at a crucial time as the charity navigates rising costs and threats of fundings cuts to the specialist services it provides in the capital and across the country for individuals and families living with the genetic brain disease.

For Ryan Straub, owner of five McDonald’s franchises in the city, helping to support the cause is deeply personal. Having grown up in a family impacted by the degenerative brain condition, he knows how its complex symptoms change people and devastate families. This includes children and young people who have a 50/50 risk of inheriting the same disease as their parent.

“I understand how important the specialist services from Scottish Huntington’s Association have been for my late brother’s family,” said Ryan. “Mark and his wife Mary relied on the HD Specialist provided by the charity and my nephews have had their own Specialist Youth Advisor too. It is extremely difficult to grow up around Huntington’s disease without the right support and just now there are families in Edinburgh and across Scotland who need Scottish Huntington’s Association more than ever.”

Huntington’s disease causes the loss of ability to walk, talk, eat and drink. In addition to complex physical symptoms, it damages thinking processes, leaves people unable to look after themselves, and causes serious mental illness such as depression, anxiety and, in some people, psychosis.

This often means that working lives are cut short, not just for the person with the disease but often for loved ones who care for them too. As a result, many families are left facing financial difficulties in a household where someone is seriously ill and over time will need 24-hour care.

The dreadful toll on families is compounded further still by the reality that each child of a parent with Huntington’s disease has a 50/50 risk of having inherited the faulty gene that causes the disease. This means young people are growing up knowing that they too might develop the same symptoms they see changing their mum or dad.

Scottish Huntington’s Association is the only charity in Scotland dedicated exclusively to providing the specialist and personalised services that families need. Its nationwide network of Huntington’s Disease Specialists gives clinical, practical and emotional support, the charity’s Specialist Youth Advisors work 1-2-1 with young people from Huntington’s families, while its Financial Wellbeing Service helps to ensure that the correct benefits and allowances are in place to reduce the hardship faced by too many.

However, like many third sector organisations, Scottish Huntington’s Association been hit with rising costs due to the cost of living crisis and increased employer National Insurance contributions – at the same time as funding comes under threat.

Chief Executive Alistair Haw said: “This wonderful donation from Ryan and his colleagues through the McDonald’s In The Community Foundation could not have come at a better time. The charity sector is battling through a ‘perfect storm’ of rising costs and falling income which is proving to be an enormous challenge.

“We are incredibly grateful to Ryan for reaching out during these exceptionally difficult times. He, his staff and their customers can be assured that the donation will make a real difference to families in their local community and beyond. The donation will go directly towards sustaining the charity’s frontline services, helping to ensure that no one in Scotland faces Huntington’s disease alone.

“We hope other businesses will be inspired by this generosity to stand alongside the Huntington’s community, both locally and nationally, and help people to live safely at home with their loved ones for longer while easing the pressure on the medical, health and social care services that we all rely on.”

“Every bit of support matters,” added Ryan. “If more businesses and organisations can come together to help, we can make sure families have the specialist care, support and hope they need to cope with this terrible disease.”

To find out how your business can help, please email fundraising@hdscotland.org.