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Seizure death sparks awareness drive

When Llinos Williams’ teenage brother died of an epileptic seizure she spent years trying to come to terms with the tragedy before she too was diagnosed with the condition.

This diagnosis made her even more determined to support an awareness raising campaign. And recently welcomed news that Epilepsy Action Cymru has received £159,300 from the Big Lottery Fund.

Money will be used to improve access to information about epilepsy at different stages of care.

They are one of 13 projects across Wales sharing in £3,881,083 as part of the latest round of People and Places funding. (For a full list of awards, click here).

30 year old Llinos Williams from Pwllheli was diagnosed with epilepsy after having a seizure in her workplace. The realisation that she’d been diagnosed with such a dangerous condition, one that had previously devastated her family, shocked her especially as she had no idea that she had the condition.

“One of my brothers, Dylan, passed away after having a seizure when he was just 18 years old in 2007, it was such a huge shock to the family as even though we knew he’d had epilepsy for about 10 years, we didn’t know that people could die from it.

“I was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2012 after I’d had a seizure in my work place. After visiting my GP I later found out that it had been triggered by an infection. I was really scared because I was just thinking about what had happened to my brother, and to add to everything else as well I was scared for my other brother, Carwyn, who had been diagnosed in 2010 too. I had no idea that I had epilepsy for a long time, I had no problems at all when I was a teenager but that first seizure turned everything around.”

However, with the support of Epilepsy Action Cymru, Llinos and her family have overcome the challenges that they face and are now championing awareness of the condition and helping others to learn more about it.

“Thankfully I’m really healthy now. I was lucky enough to find out about Epilepsy Action Cymru shortly after I was diagnosed and they have been so helpful with getting, not just me, but my family to come to terms with my condition. Through them I’ve become a volunteer to raise awareness of the condition and give people advice on how to manage it, and have even spoken at conferences about my experience.

“It’s fantastic that the Big Lottery Fund has awarded this money to Epilepsy Action Cymru. The work that they do to help people like me is brilliant, and it’s important to be able to provide that support to as many people as possible.”

Welcoming the funding, Ann Sivapatham, Wales Manager at Epilepsy Action Cymru, said: “We are delighted to receive this grant from the Big Lottery Fund. The money will allow us to provide a vital service to the 8,000 people living with epilepsy in North Wales, in the language they feel most comfortable with.

“We will be able to give accessible support and information, provide a voice for people with epilepsy on important healthcare issues and limit the social isolation felt by some people with epilepsy in this area. We believe this role will be a real lifeline for many people living with epilepsy in North Wales.”

In Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Wrexham, Leonard Cheshire Disability will use £498,960 to expand their Can Do programme into Wales and offer 1,200 young, disabled people volunteering opportunities on community projects that will enhance their life skills and levels of independence, and ultimately break down social barriers that they face in day to day life.

Michelle Impanni, Senior Programme Coordinator for Can Do in Wales, said “We are delighted we can now develop the programme to reach even more young people across Wales to benefit from this volunteering programme.

“Can Do aims to support and equip our participants with the skills and confidence they need to live their lives fully and participate in society.”

Across Wales, Time to Change Wales, a partnership between Mind Cymru, Gofal, and Hafal, receive £485,825 to deliver a behaviour therapy campaign led by young people to improve understanding of mental health issues among young people and children in Wales.

Antony Metcalfe, Programme Manager of Time to Change Wales, said: “We are delighted to have secured funding from the Big Lottery Fund to deliver a brand new anti-stigma campaign for children and young people. It is crucial that action to improve mental health and reduce discrimination starts at a young age and we believe that this campaign will play an important part in this agenda.

“We are really pleased to have the support of schools and teaching professionals across Wales and look forward to working with them to improve the lives of young people.”

Highlighting the importance of the People and Places programme, Rona Aldrich, Wales Committee Member for the Big Lottery Fund, said: “Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales.

“It delivers on our promise to use National Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy.”

The People and Places programme awards grants of between £5,001 and £1 million for a broad range of community projects. For further information about the programme and how you can apply for funding, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/wales

Further Information:

Alexander Davies - Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 029 2067 8236
Public Enquiries Line: 0300 123 0735                           
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at:www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow Big Lottery Fund Wales on Twitter: www.twitter.com/biglotterywales
Find Big Lottery Fund Wales on Facebook: www.facebook.com/biglotteryfundwales

  • The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
  • Since June 2004 we have awarded over £6.5 billion to projects that make a difference to people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans.
  • Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.

 

Channel website: https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

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