THE leader of Scottish Labour and a member of the shadow cabinet visited Leuchie House for the first time.

Richard Leonard MSP and Anas Sarwar MSP, shadow cabinet secretary for health, joined East Lothian MSP Iain Gray at the charity’s base on the outskirts of North Berwick recently.

They heard from some of Leuchie’s guests about the transformational impact of the respite breaks it provides for people with multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions.

Mairi O’Keefe, Leuchie House chief executive (pictured right), had invited Mr Leonard and Mr Sarwar to see for themselves what Leuchie offers its guests.

Mr Gray said: “It’s always a pleasure to visit Leuchie House but I was particularly pleased to be joined by my colleagues Richard Leonard and Anas Sarwar, who were making their first visits to the unique charity.

“Mairi and her team gave us their usual warm welcome and, as well as a tour and update on latest developments, we enjoyed their famous home-baking and chatted with some of the guests.

Mr Leonard described Leuchie as a “tremendous national resource”, while Mairi O’Keefe was “very pleased” to welcome them for the first time.

She added: “Leuchie plays such an important role in providing support to people with some of the most complex care needs, yet it can often be difficult to fully understand what this entails and the impact it has.

“Being able to show the team what a respite break at Leuchie involves and for them to get the chance to chat to some of our guests and hear their experiences will, I’m sure, have left them in no doubt about how essential respite is.”