“He arahanga whakamua – Leading the way”
July 2019 Newsletter
Hello there,
EWCT has had an exciting year so far and we are still rushing ahead with many things to look forward to in the future. Before we know it, the end of the year will be here and we will be able to look back at another satisfying year of EWCT providing education, support and advice to people living with epilepsy directly, and indirectly, in the Waikato, and beyond. We support anyone with an epilepsy need.
Maria Lowe, our epilepsy advisor, travels the length and breadth of the Waikato District Health Board, and you may see her whizzing to her next appointment somewhere, other than in Hamilton. Apart from visiting clients, giving epilepsy talks and attending network meetings, Maria continues to set up social groups throughout the Waikato. Visit our events page for more information on the many events we hold.
We have attended both the Waikato Wellness Expo and the Hamilton Women’s Expo so far this year and in August we will head across to the Tauranga Women’s Expo. There is a strong EWCT social group there and many of the women will be participating at the show.
Last September, we initiated a parliamentary petition requesting that the Waikato District Health Board fund a ketogenic dietitian at the Waikato Hospital. That petition was supported by our local neurologists and paediatricians who recognise that there is no treatment option offered to the 30% of people living with intractable epilepsy. That petition has since been heard by the Parliamentary ‘Health Select Committee’ and we will wait to see the outcome.
We have also been engaging with PHARMAC regarding the brand switch of Lamotrigine to Logem on the 1st October. If there are any problems with that medication switch please let your GP, neurologist, paediatrician, pharmacist or Maria know. Many people have already made the switch with no problems but don’t hesitate to ask for help if you do.
You will be pleased to know that EWCT is governed by a strong board of volunteers. That board recently won the Waikato Volunteer “Team Excellence Award” for 2019.
Our board members are Jill Davies, Emma McNeill, Bryce Hopkins, Cyril Markham, Faith Gibbs, and David Lowe. The Honourable Tim Macindoe (MP for Hamilton West) is our patron.
On Saturday June 29th we held our annual, and very special “Mid-winter dinner and hero award celebration”. We went to the Londoner pub in Hamilton and we all had a great time.
We awarded ‘hero awards’ to two wonderful people (Ai Ee Teo and John Fayerman) who have been stalwarts in helping people living with epilepsy and supporting EWCT.
Ai Ee Teo (right) 
John Fayerman (left)
Cyril Markham (left)
A ‘Life Membership’ award, one of the two inaugural awards by EWCT, was presented to Cyril Markham (pictured at far left) by David Lowe, chairperson for EWCT.
Faith Gibbs, unable to be at the dinner event, will receive her ‘Life Membership’ award at a private function. Both Cyril and Faith have each served more than 45 years in helping people living with epilepsy in the Waikato, the past 8 with EWCT.
There are about 20 weeks left until the end of the year and there is still much to do. We will continue to attend the many social groups around the region and keep you in the know about epilepsy via Maria’s monthly emails to you all.
Our annual AGM will be coming up soon and is likely to be held on the 10th of September 2019 at the Trust Waikato building, 4 Little London Lane, Hamilton – we will confirm these details soon.
We have the “Lugton Round-the Bridges” walk happening on Sunday 17th November. We will be entering a team again this year. Please come along and be part of our team – the more the merrier!
Our November epilepsy awareness month is happening again this year and we are going to organise some events to raise epilepsy awareness. Last year we featured a ‘postcard project’ which was well received.
This year’s theme is “Living with epilepsy, and those who care for our community!”
Maria is organising head-and-shoulder photos of ‘people who live with epilepsy and those who care in our community’. She is hoping to get 100 photos by November, which will be collated as a huge collage to be shared.
We are building a community of people who will be more aware of what epilepsy is.
We need support in breaking down any stigma and prejudice that people with epilepsy feel and we want to improve their overall quality of life.
If you would like to participate in Maria’s photo collage, please contact her at maria@ewct.org.nz .
Thank you for your support of EWCT. If you would like to give a donation or sponsor us in anyway, please consider donating us here.
We are a charitable trust and we receive funds and donations from within our community to do the job that we do. We do not receive government funding.