REACH Scottish Branch

Welcome to the
REACH Scottish Branch Website

This website is aimed at those members of Reach currently living in Scotland. For details of the UK organisation, and for more information on what Reach does, please go to the main Reach website at
www.reach.org.uk

There are many types of hand or arm deficiency, the anomaly is so varied that obtaining support can be difficult. Many professionals involved in health care do not see enough cases to build up expertise. Reach hopes that by pooling the knowledge of its membership it can offer a level of support to all. Some children in Reach are missing all or part of an arm, others have partial hands or possible malformed or missing fingers or thumb. Some may also have arm and leg deficiencies

Our membership includes families with children of all ages and adults who themselves have an upper limb deficiency and belong to Reach willing and able to offer the benefit of their life experiences. Reach provides the means by which parents and professionals can bring together experiences, information, support and guidance.

Each year, babies are born in the UK missing part of one or both arms and hands. Added to these are a small number of children who lose limbs or parts of limbs due to traumatic incidents or necessary surgery. For many of the families of these children it is the first time that they will have come across such a disability. 'Reach' aims to provide the affected families with the opportunity to get together, share experiences and information about what to do (or not to do) and where to go for advice regarding treatment and to help them realise that they are not alone.

Reach offers:
· local branches which provide support and an opportunity for children and parents to meet
· national office providing advice and support
· quarterly newsletter 'Within Reach'
· insurance cover for the child's 'good' arm (covers UK residents from age 2 as long as they ..are Reach members)
· hire scheme for one-handed recorders

The Scottish Branch
The Scottish Branch is made up of a committee of parents, whose children have an upper limb deficiency. The committee consists of
* Branch Coordinator - Stacy Roulston
* Treasurer - Derek Carr
* Committee Member - Kenny Gullen
* Committee Member - Carl Roulston

The committee aim to keep events informal and based on supporting the whole family.

The Scottish Branch covers all mainland Scotland and the islands, which is a huge geographical area. The members vary in age from birth up to adulthood. Therefore it is very difficult to arrange events which are suitable for everyone. After speaking to many families we found that the majority of members had the same concerns therefore we have tried to meet these concerns.