Dr Marie Macklin CBE, prominent Scottish businesswoman, entrepreneur and Founder and Executive Chair of The HALO Urban Regeneration Company, delivered a powerful and moving speech on her endometriosis journey and the need for more support from national government at last week’s Women of Scotland lunch in Glasgow.
Attended by esteemed guests from across the country, including special guest HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh, this year’s Women of Scotland lunch was held in aid of Endometriosis UK, raising both awareness and money for the fight against a disease which has no cure. It is estimated that over 179 million women are impacted by this globally.
In the UK, around 1.5 million women are affected by endometriosis which has a significant impact on the economy and the future wellbeing of large proportions of the workforce. Dr Macklin believes endometriosis needs to be reclassified to be on par with other chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. With the disease costing the UK economy £8.2 billion per annum in treatment, loss of work and healthcare costs, Dr Macklin continues to rally both UK and Scottish Government for additional funding to support further research and development.
In front of an audience of 500 guests at the Radisson Blu in Glasgow, Dr Macklin’s message was “Never Give Up” as she used her love of community, people and music to tell her inspiring story which helped shape her successful career in the world of business and entrepreneurship, overcoming a major health scare with endometriosis to transforming urban regeneration in Scotland and beyond with her role as Founder and Executive Chair of The HALO Urban Regeneration Company. Dr Macklin passionately spoke of her support for ENDO1000. A new project, based at Edinburgh University, which is a UK-wide research project with Professor Andrew Horne at the helm that will collect data from 1000 individuals with known or suspected endometriosis to support further advancements in personalised care.
Dr Marie Macklin CBE said:
“It was a privilege to be invited to be a keynote speaker at the Women of Scotland lunch in the company of incredible speakers, guests and our guest of honour, HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh, all in aid of a fantastic charity. “I hope by telling my Endometriosis story, it will help raise further awareness of this debilitating disease as we continue to rally national governments to increase funding into research and development for further support for women who are impacted each and every day by this. We need to continue to fight and support incredible charities such as Endometriosis UK and ENDO1000”.
The Women of Scotland Lunch was founded in 1958 by Bill and May Hamp-Hamilton. The Women of Scotland Luncheon, as it was then called, was designed to draw together a cross section of influential women in Scotland ‘to celebrate their success in many and varied endeavours’.
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