Epilepsy Research UK condemns cuts in Lottery research funding

Howard Lake | 8 June 2007 | News

Epilepsy Research UK has highlighted the irony that, after organisers of the 2012 London Olympics spent a reported £400,000 on a logo animation that was potentially harmful to people with epilepsy, the Big Lottery Fund is planning to cut its Research Programme for diseases like epilepsy because of lottery money being allocated to the 2012 Olympics.

The charity welcomed news that the organisers of the 2012 London Olympics had removed the potentially harmful logo animation from their website, following reports that it had triggered epilepsy seizures in some viewers. At the same time, it condemned planned cuts to Lottery funding for medical research into conditions like epilepsy.

Leigh Slocombe of Epilepsy Research UK said: “I find it incredible that this piece of animation was ever approved in the first place; especially given that there are specific Ofcom guidelines on the broadcasting of patterns of flashing lights because of the problems that they can cause for people with photosensitive epilepsy.

“But what makes this sorry situation even worse is that the Big Lottery Fund is planning to cut its Research Programme because of lottery money being allocated to the 2012 Olympics.

“£400,000 has been spent on Olympic branding that could cause seizures in thousands of people. Yet, at the same time, we are being deprived of a funding stream that could fund urgently needed research into epilepsy – a condition that affects 450,000 people in the UK alone. The logic of this escapes me and I urge the Big Lottery Fund to reconsider its decision.”

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.