I AM writing to express my congratulations to the recipients of the country's first gold awards, given by the British Epilepsy Association to eight of our "Family of Schools".

These awards are particularly timely coming in National Epilepsy Week. There are some 61,000 children - 70 per cent in mainstream schools - who have this condition and highlighting the condition and tackling prejudice must be a priority for all of us.

So congratulations to all eight award-winners: Radcliffe Hall, Christ Church Ainsworth, Heaton Park, Unsworth, Affetside, Radcliffe County Juniors, Wesley Methodist and Broad Oak High School. It gives me a great sense of pride to know that, once again, we lead the way in securing these prestigious awards. They demonstrate that caring for others is at the heart of our school communities and that our future citizens are already leading the way in helping to promote awareness, compassion and understanding towards epilepsy sufferers and their families.

A special "thank you" must also be extended to officers of the British Epilepsy Association, Broad Oak High School for their hospitality, the Learning Support Service for their hard work in preparing for the gold awards, and especially to Fiona Ingham for her tireless dedication and her role as educator, advocate and counsellor.

There could be no better ambassador for the BEA than Fiona!

COUNCILLOR ANDREA HUGHES

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.