A New Name – Same Commitment

We are delighted to announce an important update about the future of our charity.

After careful thought and consultation, the Board and the members adopted a Special Resolution to change the name of the charity from Pain Association Scotland to Pain Association. This decision was not made lightly as the name Pain Association Scotland has served us well over the years, and it reflects a history that we are immensely proud of. However, as the world around us evolves, we believe our name should better reflect who we are today and the wider communities whom we serve.

This decision reflects how our work has evolved over time. While we remain deeply proud of our Scottish roots, in order to ensure that we can continue to exist and sustainably operate in future years, we need to ensure our services, partnerships, and reach are increasingly extending beyond Scotland. We want our name to better reflect the wider community of people living with chronic pain who can benefit from our support, e.g., the whole of the UK.

Adopting our new name will help us:

• Reach and support more people across the UK living with chronic pain
• Build stronger partnerships and opportunities at a national level
• Help us communicate our mission more clearly to new audiences and partners
• Ensure we exist for future years

We want to reassure you that this change does not mean we are stepping away from Scotland. Our commitment to the communities we serve here remains as strong as ever. Scotland will always be at the heart of who we are and in order to reflect this we will be developing a timeline to meaningfully illustrate our identity, so please do watch out for this.

What will not change is our mission: to support people living with chronic pain, improve quality of life, and ensure no one feels alone in managing their condition.  We understand that our name carries meaning and history, and we deeply value the journey we’ve shared with you. This change is about building on that foundation so we can do even more in the years ahead.

We have a duty to be at the heart of helping to drive policy change with and for people with chronic pain and that is why we’ve taken this initial first step to change our name and visual identity.  So, over the coming months you will begin to see some changes to the website and our overall branding. 

As part of this exciting next chapter, our name, visual identity and communications will gradually be updated.  You will notice our new branding appearing across our website, social media, communications and other materials as we make the transition. 

Professor Margaret Dunham

Chair