Trustees’ Week is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the dedicated volunteers playing crucial roles in charities across the UK. We also want to thank our own Trustees for the time, commitment and expertise they bring to help the Epilepsy Research Institute thrive.
To understand their motivations and experience, for Trustees’ Week 2025, we asked our trustees why they said ‘Yes’ to joining our board. Throughout the week, we’ll be sharing their reflections on social media – celebrating their incredible contributions and encouraging others to consider becoming a trustee for a cause close to their heart.
Here’s what our Trustees said:
Lesslie Young gave two reasons for saying ‘yes’:
“One, my experience of epilepsy, its wide and significant impact – my daughter received her diagnosis at 10 months old. She is now 33. The other, as Chief Executive of Founding Partner Epilepsy Scotland, I have met with scores of people living with the condition, their families, employers etc. In combination, it has highlighted the lack of investment in research. That needs to change and change soon. As a Trustee at the Epilepsy Research Institute, the collaboration between different epilepsy charities and other key organisations is at the heart of what we do.”
Abbie Fearon has previously shared her life with epilepsy story and adds: “I said ‘Yes’ to becoming a Trustee because there’s so much to be uncovered about epilepsy and that can only happen through collaboration. I want to play my part in making that happen.”
Tony Marson spoke of his reasons: “I said ‘Yes’ to becoming a Trustee for the Epilepsy Research Institute because I want to work with a charity that is bringing together the UK research community and fostering research excellence to tackle the massive impact that epilepsy has on people and their families. One of the barriers to overcome is the massive underinvestment in epilepsy research. As a board we are all united in our aim to radically advance research.”
The Epilepsy Research Institute is very lucky to be supported by trustees with such a range of skills and experience, but there are many ways you can get involved at different levels. Here are some other things you can do to support our work:
Take on a fundraising challenge for us
Write to your MP and ask them to become a Parliamentary Champion for Epilepsy Research