The Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation was established by the Scots golfer Colin Montgomerie in memory of his late mother Elizabeth, to provide support to people affected by cancer. In its first project, The Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation is raising funds to build a new Centre in conjunction with the Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre in Lanarkshire to provide practical and emotional support to cancer patients, their families and carers. The Elizabeth Montgomerie Building will be based at Monklands Hospital, Airdrie.

Colin Montgomerie said: “I am overwhelmed that one year on from launching the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation we already have seventy five percent of the funds needed to build the Elizabeth Montgomerie building for Maggie’s Lanarkshire. My mother’s cancer had such a devastating effect on my family and, having visited Maggie’s Centres myself, I know that the care they provide would have made a huge difference to us. It means a great deal to me that individuals and businesses, have given so generously of their time and money. For example, today I received a cheque for £100,000 from the Hotel du Vin/Malmaison Group - it was an amazing feeling to join so many staff from the group walking the West Highland Way last November to raise much needed funds towards Maggie’s Lanarkshire. I am also very pleased to be able to announce tonight that the acclaimed architect Neil Gillespie, is going to design the centre. We look forward to working with Neil and his team.”

Architect Neil Gillespie of Reiach and Hall, is known for his designs for buildings such as The Pier Arts Centre in Stromness and the Collective Gallery in Edinburgh.

Neil Gillespie said: “This is an inspiring and exciting project to be working on. A Maggie’s brief is challenging for many reasons, because it is a building type that is really quite unique. It’s about care and the scale of the building is very domestic. Yet it’s not a house and it’s not a hospital. All Maggie’s plans revolve around the kitchen table, around having somewhere to go the moment you enter the building. So the plan develops from the kitchen table out to courtyards, trees and beyond.”

Maggie's CEO Laura Lee said: "The generous support of so many donors to the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation over the past year has been incredible and it is really exciting that we have such a significant amount of funding in place for Maggie's Lanarkshire. We are very grateful to Colin and his family, for all they are doing and to all the supporters of Maggie’s Lanarkshire. We are thrilled to have the acclaimed architect Neil Gillespie designing the centre and once we have completed the design and planning process, we hope to go on site early in 2011."

Tonight’s dinner is being held at the Hotel du Vin in Glasgow and staff from the Hotel du Vin and Malmaison Group have so far raised £100,000 for the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation by walking the West Highland Way and through fundraising in the hotels in Scotland. There are further are plans to do another fundraising walk and Hotel du Vin CEO Robert Cook said: “Cancer affects so many of us and the personal commitment from staff to support this campaign has been incredible. After doing the West Highland Way in the autumn, we are now taking on an even bigger challenge – ‘Two Ways in Eight Days’ walking all the way from Inverness to Glasgow, following the Great Glen and the West Highland Way. The Maggie’s Centre in Lanarkshire is going to make a huge difference the lives of people affected by cancer and we are proud to join Colin Mongtomerie in making this centre a reality.”

In Lanarkshire each year approximately 3,500 people are diagnosed with cancer. Tim Davison, Chief Executive of NHS Lanarkshire said: “The service provided by Maggie’s Centres complements the treatment patients receive in hospital and also provides much needed support for relatives and carers. The interim Maggie’s Centre in Lanarkshire is already making a difference to people with cancer and their families. The new purpose-built Maggie’s centre at Monklands Hospital will be a fantastic facility that can accommodate the full range of services that Maggie’s are renowned for.”


FOR MORE INFORMATION
Elizabeth Montomerie Foundation – contact Lucinda Rivers, lucinda@elizabethmontgomerie.org; 07789 434664

Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres – contact Anna Marriott anna.marriott@maggiescentres.org, 0141 341 5675

Notes to editors:

In January 1991 Colin Montgomerie lost his mother, Elizabeth, to lung cancer. During this difficult time he became aware of the devastating effect that cancer can have on the patient, their carers and families. With this in mind, Colin set up the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation with the aim of raising funds to provide information and support to those affected by cancer.
The first project the Foundation will fund is the Elizabeth Montgomerie Building in Lanarkshire, a haven where users can go for advice as well as emotional and psychological support. The building will be developed with Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, who have built a great reputation in Scotland.

There is currently an interim Maggie’s centre in Wishaw, this facility provides a smaller scale version of what the permanent centre will provide, with courses and specialist staff working at the facility. The permanent centre will be able to accommodate a larger number of courses and visitors. The permanent centre will be custom designed to ensure that the programme of support takes place within the absolute right environment.