Family presents £19,000 to Epilepsy Action
Ronnie, Helen and James Coulter present a cheque to Morina Clarke of Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland. (l-r) Jim Wells MLA, June Massey (chair of the Council of Management at Epilepsy Action), Morina Clarke, Helen Coulter, James Coulter, Ronnie Coulter.
HILLSBOROUGH couple Ronnie and Helen Coulter presented a cheque for a magnificent £19,000 to Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland at Stormont, after the funds were raised in memory of their daughter Caroline.
The Coulter family held a successful Ladies Charity Tractor Road Run last month to raise funds and awareness, in memory of Caroline, who had epilepsy and passed away suddenly on Christmas Day 2009, aged 25.
Ronnie and Helen presented the cheque to Morina Clarke, Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland manager, at Stormont. The money raised will go directly towards helping support people with epilepsy in Northern Ireland. Three other families in Northern Ireland have also lost someone to epilepsy and have recently raised funds for Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland.
Morina Clarke said: It was great to see so many people out to support people with epilepsy and Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland. Our new identity, together with this very generous donation, will help us continue to be a strong voice for people with epilepsy in Northern Ireland. We also hope it will allow us to work with MLAs to improve services for people with the condition."
As well as receiving the financial boost, the UK-wide charity was celebrating the launch of Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland at Stormont on Monday July 4.
The launch celebrated the new Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland identity, which came into use on January 1 of this year. People from all areas of the epilepsy community in Northern Ireland, including health and education professionals and those directly affected by epilepsy, attended the launch. MLAs including Lagan Valley's Paul Givan also attended.
Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland has local branches across the country which hold regular meetings and offer a variety of social events and informative talks and discussions relating to epilepsy. Meetings offer the opportunity for people to share their experiences of living with epilepsy, and help to raise awareness of the condition in the local community.
There are around 14,000 people with epilepsy in Northern Ireland and around 1,000 of these are children. Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland is dedicated to improving health services and educational support for people with epilepsy in the country. For more information about Epilepsy Action Northern Ireland, visit www.epilepsy.org.uk
Ulster Star
15/07/2011
