Epilepsy Action

Epilepsy Action is a British charity providing information, advice and support for people with epilepsy.

For the unconnected Australian epilepsy organisation, see Epilepsy Action Australia.
Epilepsy Action
MottoWe fight to improve the lives of everyone affected by epilepsy
Formation5 September 1950 (1950-09-05)[1]
FounderLady Cynthia Colville[1]
TypeCharitable organisation
Registration no.234343[2]
HeadquartersYeadon, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Coordinates53.86441°N 1.69408°W / 53.86441; -1.69408
ServicesEpilepsy advice and information
Membership (2019)
9,258[3]
President
Margaret Ford, Baroness Ford[3]
Chair
Richard Chapman[4]
Chief executive
Philip Lee[3]
Revenue (2019)
£3.1m[3]
Staff (2019)
74[3]
Websitewww.epilepsy.org.uk
Formerly called
British Epilepsy Association

It provides freephone and email helplines and a wide range of information booklets, web pages and e-learning courses. It has around 100 local support groups across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and a network of volunteers working in the community.

It also organises conferences for people with epilepsy and health professionals with an interest in the condition. It also has a website that includes information about epilepsy and runs an online community for people with the condition and their carers.

It undertakes and encourages non-laboratory research into epilepsy and the issues surrounding living with the condition.

The charity has received international media coverage on a number of occasions due to its work in highlighting bad practice in online videos in relation to photosensitive epilepsy.

  • In 2007, it claimed that 30 people had seizures as a result of a segment of animated footage commissioned by the organising committee of the London 2012 Summer Olympics to promote its logo.[5][6]
  • In 2011, Epilepsy Action highlighted issues with the video for the Kanye West song "All of the Lights". Tests of the video showed that it failed the flashing images guidelines set down by UK broadcasting watchdog Ofcom and so was likely to trigger a seizures in someone with photosensitive epilepsy. A warning was placed on YouTube for people watching the video on its website.[7]
  • In 2015, it highlighted the presence of advertisements with flashing content that were posted on Vine by Twitter. The Advertising Standards Authority confirmed that Twitter were in breach of its guidelines.[8]

Since 2008, the charity has organised the annual Bradford 10K athletics race which in 2019 attracted 3,000 runners.[9]

References
  1. 'Epilepsy Action history wall', Epilepsy Action, 2010
  2. Charity Commission. British Epilepsy Association, registered charity no. 234343.
  3. 'Epilepsy Action 2019 Annual Report and Accounts', Epilepsy Action, 21 July 2020
  4. 'List of council members', Epilepsy Action, 9 July 2019
  5. Bond, David (13 June 2007). "Olympics inquiry into logo-launch seizures". ISSN 0307-1235.
  6. "'London 2012 Olympics withdraw film after seizures'". Epilepsy Action. 5 June 2007.
  7. "'Kanye West's 'All Of The Lights' Video Gets Epilepsy Warning'". MTV News. 25 February 2011.
  8. "'Epilepsy charity criticises Twitter for flashing ads'". BBC News. 10 July 2015.
  9. "'3,000 runners tackle Bradford's biggest ever 10K'". Telegraph and Argus. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
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