I hope you are all well and coping with the very different way of life due to the coronavirus outbreak. Everyone at Epilepsy Scotland appreciates this a period of great uncertainty. This may lead to some people experiencing more seizures than normal, feeling anxious or stressed.

Despite obvious challenges, we continue to provide the vital support, information and services to help people living with epilepsy in Scotland get through this incredibly difficult time.

Last Friday, our Edinburgh Youth Group held their first virtual group meeting using video conferencing website Zoom. This is a great way for people to connect, share experiences, feelings and most importantly have fun.

One mum, whose daughter attended her first meeting left a lovely comment on social media. She said: “It was my daughters first meeting and she soon felt part of the group and had a great afternoon, despite it being online.”

Another mum said her son thought it was brilliant being able to see and speak with his friends.

Our Edinburgh Youth Group is planning to meet up every Friday online.  Also, our Glasgow Youth Group is looking at catching up through Instagram. This to help everyone stay connected during this period of lockdown.

If you would like to join our Youth Groups, please email Kirstyn for the Edinburgh Youth Group at kcameron@epilepsyscotland.org.uk and Shelby for Glasgow at sjohnston@epilepsyscotland.org.uk.

Helpline

We are delighted to announce that our freephone Helpline is now live again.

Our Helpline service will be available Monday to Friday between 10am and 4.30pm.

Epilepsy Scotland’s Helpline & Information officers are here for anyone who has concerns about their epilepsy, who is struggling with their condition and the impact of self-isolation.

You can contact our Helpline by calling 0808 800 2200. You can also get in touch by emailing contact@epilepsyscotland.org.uk or by sending us a private message on social media.

We will continue to provide information regarding epilepsy, and its impact, on social media and on our website.

Urgent appeal

We are only able to continue to carry out our vital support and services during these difficult times because of you.

Thanks to your support and generosity we have been able to react and adapt quickly.

However, with government regulations in place many of the fundraising events and challenges that we rely on throughout the year have been postponed or cancelled.

It’s too early to know how much income will be lost to the charity because of the impact of Covid19. However, we estimate more than half our fundraised income will be lost in the coming months.

We need to raise over £1,500 every day to deliver our services, which we continue to do.

Please help us by making a donation to ensure we can deliver another day of our lifeline services to those who need us most, when they need us most.

You can donate to our urgent appeal on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/donate/262822028215580/.