The purpose of the local lobby is to encourage as many individuals in as many constituencies as possible to write to their local MPs, MSPs or Assembly Members to request a meeting at their local surgery or constituency office during the Friday or Saturday of Epilepsy Awareness Week (23 or 24 May 2008).

Most people never contact their local representatives, and just writing a letter can make a big difference. Often there is no more effective way to get an MP's attention than personal contact from constituents. The more MPs that are educated and lobbied by their constituents about epilepsy, the more likely it is that the JEC will be able to solicit their support in pressing the Government into action on better services for people with epilepsy. Meeting your MP could also provide a useful opportunity for you to raise problems you or your family have experienced in terms of diagnosis, access to treatment, etc.

If you are unsure who your local MP is, you can find out by typing your postcode into the constituency locator on the House of Commons website. This can be found here. Alternatively, you can phone the House of Commons Information Office on 020 7219 4272.

Here are some suggestions of what to ask your MP when you meet:

• That they write to the Chief Executive of your local Primary Care Trust voicing your concerns about current service delivery in the local area for people with epilepsy.
• That they write to the Secretary of State for Health drawing attention to a suitable campaign e.g. the lack of Epilepsy Specialist Nurses (ESNs).
• Whether or not they have any suggestions or comments with regards to your particular issue on a local or national level.
• Whether they might consider taking forward some Parliamentary action, for example tabling some written questions or putting forward a debate.

Click here to download a sample letter (, 29 KB) that you can personalise to send to your MP.

Click here to download a briefing note (, 37 KB) to include with your letter.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Epilepsy's report Wasted money, wasted lives (, 1 MB) can be downloaded here.

It would be very useful for us to be able to gauge the level of participation in the local lobby. Please email a copy of your letter to your MP to us at info@eruk.org.uk - we would be very interested to receive it.