2018 has been an exciting year for Epilepsy Positivity.
In 2018 we continued to connect and support individuals affected by epilepsy, as well as educate the general public. We shared inspiring stories, posted questions on a range of epilepsy related topics and collaborated with many other epilepsy accounts and charities to raise awareness of epilepsy and help to make sure the voices of people affected by epilepsy are heard and their needs are met.
Throughout the year, Epilepsy Positivity also had some memorable moments. Here are a few of our highlights:
In March 2018 we reached an exciting milestone on Instagram - 20,000 followers!
On June 18th 2018 we celebrated our 3rd anniversary and launched the Epilepsy Positivity website. With the help of our followers on Instagram and Twitter, we also decided on a new slogan to put on the website: “Seizing Positivity over seizures, one brainwave at a time”. The features of this website were decided by our Instagram users and included our blog, your stories and experiences of epilepsy, as well as a research page to encourage people affected by to get more involved with research. We are excited for our website to keep growing in 2019.
In July 2018 we were nominated for four Wego Health Awards - ‘Patient Leader Hero’, Best in Show: Twitter’, ‘Best in Show: Instagram’ and ’Best in Show Community’. We may not have won, but it was fantastic to see epilepsy accounts being recognised!
In August 2018 we reached an exciting milestone on Twitter - 10,000 followers!
September 10th 2018 we launched ‘Minds of Epilepsy’. This was a new project aiming to increase awareness, understanding and support to those affected by both epilepsy and mental health issues. For more information about why the project was set up, check out the blog post here.
We have since held several #mindsofepilepsy discussions on the Minds of Epilepsy Twitter to allow people to ask questions to other people within the community to gain support and advice. People have also been sharing their epilepsy and mental health experiences on the Minds of Epilepsy Instagram account. So far 14 stories have been shared and we hope to share many more in 2019, as well as work on a range of other mini-projects which focus on promoting positive mental health amongst people affected by epilepsy.
Finally, in December 2018 a couple of our wonderful supporters made us an Epilepsy Positivity t-shirt!
Some of our 2019 plans:
- From January 2019 for the first time we will be opening applications for a several voluntary roles.
- 2019 will see the launch of the Epilepsy Positivity Advisory Group (EPAG) which aims to ensure all future developments of Epilepsy Positivity reflect what is important to our online community.
- 2019 will also see the launch of our new online peer support service (more information on this will be coming soon).
- Our Minds of Epilepsy discussions will begin having themes to allow specific topics within epilepsy and mental health to be discussed more thoroughly.
- We are also working hard on a few other exciting projects which will be announced at a later date!
If you would like to make any suggestions for how else we can expand Epilepsy Positivity in 2019, please contact us at epilepsypositivity@outlook.com (we always love hearing from our community)!
Our little online community continues to grow each day and we are excited to see what 2019 brings. Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year. In 2019 we truly wish you all the happiness and health that you deserve.
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