About Euan

Euan was a warm, funny and much-loved person. He loved socialising with his family and friends and was a keen rugby fan and adventurer. After he was diagnosed in 2003 with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) at age 29, he dedicated his life to MND research and improving disabled access.

After his MND diagnosis, Euan moved from London back to Edinburgh to be with his family and fundraise for MND research. In 2006, he and his father Donald established the Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research and helped to set up the Voicebank Project, which is today known as Speak:Unique.

Inspired by his own experiences, Euan founded Euan's Guide in 2013 with his sister, Kiki MacDonald OBE, after he became a powerchair user.

Faced with the challenge of the lack of disabled access information, Euan and Kiki realised that many other disabled people were battling the same barriers. Euan’s Guide was created to share knowledge, reduce stress and give people the confidence to enjoy everyday activities by sharing their experiences of accessible places to go.

Please help us continue Euan’s legacy and help other disabled people by reviewing your favourite places, listing your venue or simply spreading the word about Euan’s Guide.

"My family and I found that we had a limited list of accessible places that we would visit. If we wanted to try somewhere new, it often became a major research project!

I knew that a recommendation from someone with similar access requirements would be powerful enough to give me the confidence to visit somewhere new and I hoped that other disabled people would feel the same.

Euan’s Guide is a way for everyone to share their experiences, removing the fear of the unknown and taking some of the stress out of going places and trying new things."

Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research

Driven by a deep desire to support future breakthroughs in MND research, Euan co-founded the Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research at the University of Edinburgh in 2007 alongside his father, Donald. The mission of the Euan MacDonald Centre is, through research, to improve the outcomes for people living with motor neuron disease (MND) and related conditions.

SpeakUnique

For many living with MND, losing the ability to speak can feel like losing a part of who you are. That is why Euan helped launch SpeakUnique, a service that lets people bank their voice early so they can continue to communicate using a personalised synthetic voice if their speech changes or is lost. Euan used SpeakUnique himself to create his, using his and his brother’s voices, which became a major part of his ability to communicate as his MND progressed.