We are fortunate in East Lothian to have many visitor attractions and venues which are accessible for people in wheelchairs, but at Leuchie House we know from bitter experience that this is not always the case.

One of the organisations which has been campaigning vociferously for accessibility to be a priority and not an afterthought is the relatively new Euan’s Guide. This is an attempt to get people with mobility issues to write reviews which can then be used by others when they are out and about.

Started in November 2013, the guide came about thanks to the experiences of Euan MacDonald, who lives with Motor Neurone Disease, and his sister Kiki. They co-founded the guide when they realised there was nowhere they could get all the information they needed before planning a trip.

The site has since been endorsed by the likes of Professor Stephen Hawking and JK Rowling and the reviews are coming in thick and fast.

For the activities team at Leuchie House, this kind of easy-to-use guide is invaluable. We look after people with various long-term physical conditions, with a range of mobility issues, and one of the unique selling points of Leuchie is that our guests are offered the chance to go on tailor-made trips and outings when they come for respite care.

Euan’s Guide is one of those resources that has us all scratching our heads and thinking: “Surely someone’s thought of this before now?” But no. It took one very determined young man and his family to put all the pieces together and come up with a one-stop-shop for people looking for accessibility information – from others who have been in the same position.

VisitScotland has also been making great strides towards encouraging hospitality providers to provide vital information to potential customers through their ‘accessibility statements’ and this is another welcome move.

Leuchie’s guests enjoy pub lunches, distillery visits and trips to local attractions all over East Lothian and beyond during their respite breaks, so businesses who do not accommodate our guests are losing out on a large slice of the financial boost available from the ‘respitality’ industry.

One of the founding principles at Leuchie is that just because someone is in a wheelchair or has other mobility issues, it does not mean that they do not deserve the same treats and experiences as any of us when we are fortunate enough to be able to take a short break. It is good to see we are not alone in this philosophy.