A Harrogate family, whose son had epilepsy, has been awarded a volunteer of the year award by national charity Epilepsy Action. The Snow family was presented with a fundraising award at an awards ceremony in Leeds this week.
The Snow family – Georgiana, David, Philip, Edward and Alison – organised a fundraising event in memory of their son and brother, Thomas. Thomas died just after his 17th birthday after an epileptic seizure. The event was held on what would have been Thomas’ 18th birthday.
About 400 people attended the event. These were family, friends and many members of the local community. The event was a huge success and involved all of Thomas’ favourite things. Along with a hog roast, entertainment was provided in the form of an auction, bouncy castle, wishing well, bucking bronco and a 1000 red balloon release. The family organised the event in a matter of weeks and raised £6,600 for Epilepsy Action.
Accepting the award, Georgiana Snow said: We are touched to receive this award from Epilepsy Action. Knowing that our fundraising in memory of Thomas plays a small part in improving the lives of other families affected by epilepsy is very rewarding.
Philip Lee, chief executive at Epilepsy Action, presented the award.
Philip said: We are delighted to acknowledge the very special efforts of our volunteers at this year’s Epilepsy Action National Volunteer Awards. These awards reflect the wonderful efforts of the recipients and mark our appreciation for the tremendous work that all our volunteers undertake.
At Epilepsy Action we achieve what we do because of the support of our fantastic volunteers. Those here today have played a very special role in helping us to improve the lives of the 600,000 people with epilepsy across the UK.
Epilepsy Action’s National Volunteer Awards aim to recognise the outstanding support given to the charity by its volunteers nationwide. A total of 16 awards were presented across nine categories. For more information about volunteering opportunities at Epilepsy Action visit epilepsy.org.uk/volunteer or call the local services team on 0113 210 8800.
Epilepsy affects around one in every 100 people in the UK alone and 87 people are diagnosed with the condition every day. Each year, Epilepsy Action directly helps over one million people through a range of services, including its Epilepsy Helpline, freephone 0808 800 5050, branch network, specialist nurse scheme and award-winning website, epilepsy.org.uk