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Chair's report

I would like to begin this report by thanking my colleagues on the Council of Management for their faith and confidence in electing me as their Chair in succession to Mike Harnor who completed three years of distinguished service in July 2009. It is an honour and a rare privilege for me to hold this office for a second time.

The members of the Council of Management are all volunteers and they give of their time and expertise generously to ensure the good governance of the charity and the achievement of its aims for the benefit of people with epilepsy and their families. Congratulations to June Massey who was elected as Vice Chair of Council and to Beryl Sharlot who was elected as Honorary Treasurer by the Council at its meeting in July 2009. During the year we said goodbye to David Streets, a former Vice Chair of Council, and Ley Sander who both retired from Council with our thanks for all their help and support.We also welcomed three new Council members – John Bostock, Jayne Cage and Keith Skivington – who have all quickly established themselves.

The Council members are just one set of volunteers who actively support the charity. There are thousands of other individuals who regularly and frequently support the Association in a voluntary capacity – helping to raise money, helping to deliver services or helping to raise awareness. We can put a financial estimate on the value of their combined effort but more importantly, without their commitment and hard work the charity would not be able to do anything like as much work or have anything like as much impact as it does. In particular, it is the local branches of Epilepsy Action that are often the face of the charity in communities throughout the United Kingdom.

I shall leave the detailed reporting of our financial performance in 2009 to Beryl Sharlot as the Honorary Treasurer, but given the very unstable and difficult economic conditions of last year it was especially gratifying to see the charity’s income hold up so well. Against this background, our achievements have been all the more remarkable. I should like to put on record my thanks to the Chief Executive, his Management Team and all the staff of the Association for their hard work in what has been a very good year for the Association.

2009 began extremely well when our new President, Baroness Ford of Cunninghame, launched our key campaign document of the year, ‘Epilepsy in England: time for change’. This provided the backdrop for a year of very successful awareness raising amongst politicians and decision makers in all the countries of the United Kingdom. Looking forward this is going to be a crucial part of Epilepsy Action’s work in the future. We can expect public spending reductions across the board because of the economic recession and national debt. As a result we can also expect huge pressure on the statutory services provided for people with epilepsy, including the health service. The importance of Epilepsy Action as a strong and credible representative organisation for epilepsy which speaks with authority and vision will never be higher. This is a challenge we gladly accept and to which we will respond positively.

Richard J Chapman
Chair, Council of Management
13 April 2010