At Epilepsy Ireland, we are proud to be partnering with Peter Mark to be the beneficiaries of the 2024 Petermarkathon, alongside Epilepsy Action in Northern Ireland.
Peter Mark salons across the country are raising awareness of epilepsy and seeking your support. Fundraising from the Petermarkathon will support vital epilepsy services in communities across Ireland, because no person's life should be limited by epilepsy.
Epilepsy is a neurological condition where the electrical signals in the brain are disrupted, causing seizures. Most seizures happen with little to no warning. 45,000 people in Ireland are living with epilepsy, including 10,000 children. That's almost 1 out of every 100 people in Ireland.
Your donation will help ensure that we can provide the services needed to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy.
Please support the Petermarkathon by taking a seizure safety card with you when you leave the salon and by making a donation. Your donation will be supporting the incredible work of our community resource officers.
Support our work helping people with epilepsy and their families
Every year, our support and information services receive approximately 20,000 contacts from people with epilepsy and their families. This service is co-ordinated by our 11 Community Resource Officers via our 9 regional offices across Ireland.
Epilepsy is a journey, and a diagnosis of epilepsy can change a person’s life and bring with it many questions. A person can be diagnosed with epilepsy at any stage of life, and epilepsy is an incredibly individual condition – so everyone’s journey with the condition is different.
Our team are there to provide information and support to people with epilepsy and their families – no matter what stage of their journey they are at. This involves providing key information on how to self-manage the condition; how to safely administer emergency medications; and bringing people with epilepsy and their families together in support groups to show they are not alone on their journey.
Your donation will help continue this vital work across Ireland.
Support our training and education programmes
While our team provide information and support to people with epilepsy and their families, they also work directly with local communities. Epilepsy is an incredibly common condition – much more common than what people think, with approximately 1:100 people living with epilepsy in Ireland.
That means communities need to be epilepsy aware, know the signs of seizures and how to response correctly. For example, teachers need key information about the condition when supporting a child with epilepsy in the classroom. We provide dedicated Information sessions about epilepsy to teachers and SNAs – as well as accredited training for professionals on Epilepsy Awareness and the Administration of Buccal Midazolam.
Every year, we train around 3,000 professionals – providing them with potentially life-saving information and in the process, increasing understanding and awareness of epilepsy in your local community.
Your donation will help continue these programmes.
Support our awareness campaigns
Epilepsy is a condition that can unfortunately still be misunderstood and there can be many myths and misconceptions attached to it. Changing public perceptions of epilepsy is a key area of our work. We work with our media volunteers across Ireland to help them share their stories of life with epilepsy and the realities of living with the condition. Throughout the year, we also conduct a number of awareness campaigns seeking to increase awareness and understanding of epilepsy.
It is important to know what to do if you see someone having a seizure. Since 2021, we have been promoting the three words of Time, Safe, Stay as key words on how to respond to a person having a seizure.
Despite limited resources and budgets, this is working – with 45% of respondents to our most recent public awareness survey recalling having heard these words associated with seizure response.
Your donation can help us increase understanding and awareness of epilepsy in Ireland.
Support our advocacy campaigns
Improving the lives of people with epilepsy by advocating for positive public policy changes is a key area of our work. We have a proven track record of achieving results for people with epilepsy and in the past year alone, have successfully advocated for the state’s free travel scheme to support people with epilepsy who are restricted from driving due to their condition; and the establishment of Deferred Leaving Cert exams for students with epilepsy who may experience a seizure during their exam, preventing them from completing their exams.
Your donation can help us achieve more to improve the lives of people with epilepsy.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
Support our investment in Research
Understanding epilepsy and its causes is key to potentially developing new treatments and ultimately, leading to an increase in scientific and medical knowledge about the condition. Since 2009, we have invested in 23 research projects focused on key areas such as the psychosocial impact of epilepsy; the understanding of rare, genetic and difficult to treat epilepsies; the impact of seizure detection devices; and even, whether pet dogs can predict epileptic seizures!
World-leading epilepsy research is taking place in Ireland, and Epilepsy Ireland directly contribute to this pioneering, potentially life changing research.
Your donation can help support our investments in epilepsy research.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR RESEARCH INVESTMENTS
Further information
At Epilepsy Ireland, we pride ourselves on the highest levels of transparency and governance. We are Triple Locked by the Charities Institute of Ireland – awarded to charities that uphold the highest standards in transparent reporting, ethical fundraising and strong governance structures. We have also attained the IQ Quality mark – a quality system developed for small to medium sized Community & Voluntary organisations. We were awarded this following an external assessment of our work, practices, policies/procedures and impact.
How we use and generate our funds is also published annually on our website, as well as our full financial statements and Annual Reports. You can visit the ‘Governance’ section of our website to learn more all about this.
Thank you
Thank you for visiting this page and learning more about the work of Epilepsy Ireland. Please consider making a vital donation in support of all our work.
We would also thank everyone involved in the Petermarkathon for their incredible support for Epilepsy Ireland – we greatly appreciate it.
Together, we can achieve a society where no person’s life is limited by epilepsy.