Moray mum Lucy Lintott who has Motor Neurone Disease is fighting for a suitable home in Elgin
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Lucy Lintott who has Motor Neurone Disease is fighting to find a suitable house in Elgin for her young family.
On top of that she's also backing a national campaign to ensure others with the incurable condition don't also spend precious time waiting to find homes where they can live properly.
The mum-of-two, who was named Scotland's Charity Champion in 2016 due to her amazing fundraising efforts, currently lives in a two-bed ‘sheltered’ flat with her partner Tommy.
However, with the birth of her two children, plus her requirement for overnight carers as her health deteriorates, that flat has become far too small.
Now, having already been on the list for a three-bed home for over a year, she's been told by Moray Council that none will be available until 2023 at the earliest.
Lucy said: "I got offered a two-bed bungalow but had to turn it down as it was smaller than my flat and I need a third bedroom for overnight care.
"I have two young kids, who are only going to get bigger and take up more space around the flat.
"It’s just not realistic to stay where I am for much longer."
Lucy is now backing MND Scotland's call for Scottish and local government action on what it labels an "accessible housing crisis".
Susan Webster, the charity's head of policy and campaigns, stated that people with the degenerative disease can quickly lose the ability to walk, talk, eat and breathe unaided.
She said: "The average life expectancy is just 18 months from diagnosis, yet many waiting lists for essential adaptations and accessible homes are longer than this.
"This means people with MND are left trapped in their homes, sometimes in a single room.
"Lucy’s story illustrates the urgent need for more accessible housing across Scotland, including family sized homes.
"Precious time should be spent making memories, not waiting for somewhere suitable to live.
"Current systems and processes are failing people.
"MND does not wait, and neither can people with the illness. Change is needed now."
Lucy, when aged 19, was the youngest person in Scotland to ever be diagnosed with the incurable condition which progressively destroys the neurones which carry messages from the brain to the muscles.
In the wake of that devastating news she courageously raised £183,897 for the charity MND Scotland.
She's now aged 27 and is a proud mum, having given birth to her son LJ in 2020 and daughter AR in 2021.
Before Christmas, MND Scotland’s Advocacy Worker stepped in to support Lucy with her housing issue.
Lucy said: "Carla from MND Scotland has been amazing by challenging the council, and has taken some of the stress off me, but neither of us should have to be doing this.
"I think there should be more properties available with the space needed for those in wheelchairs full-time.
"It's shocking considering people with MND’s life expectancy is so low. Being told I can’t get home until 2023 doesn't give me much hope."
MND Scotland’s report ‘No time to lose: Addressing the housing needs of people with MND’ has been published today.
Within its pages it sets out a series of recommendations for the Scottish Government and local authorities.
These include:
- Creating a Scotland-wide definition of exactly what constitutes accessible housing
- Ensuring a minimum of 10% of new build homes are built to a wheelchair accessible standard
- Fast-tracking people with MND for accessible homes
- Directly matching people with MND with potentially suitable properties
View the report in full HERE
