Epilepsy Wales has pioneered field worker training to support epileptics in their communities.

People with epilepsy are prone to recurrent seizures due to "electric storms" in the brain.

But the six-year-old St Asaph-based organisation's National Lottery funding has run out and says NHS restructuring due in April makes it difficult to negotiate its contracts with health groups.

Prejudice

Over 17,500 people in Wales have the condition and about 2,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, according to the group.

What is epilepsy? 'Electrical brain storms' caused due to excessive brain excitation Results in person being prone to seizures Can be caused by brain damage, strokes, tumours, alcoholism etc. Some seizures have genetic basis BBCi: Epilepsy Guide

Epilepsy Wales also aims to counter institutional prejudice surrounding the condition as well as educating people with epilepsy about their rights and offering local support and advice.

Two National Lottery grants which provided original funding, but its work is now paid for through donations.

And it says the forthcoming abolition of Wales' five health authorities - to be replaced with 22 local boards by the Welsh Assembly Government - is an added complication.

Explanations

Lesley Morris, one of just four field workers left, said: "When [an epileptic goes] in to a GP's surgery, [they] will always ask 'I forgot to ask that' or 'What did he mean by that?'

"So we work with neurologists in clinics, sit with the clients afterwards and explain exactly what the neurologist meant.

"If you've just been told, at the age of 45, that you've got epilepsy, your world falls apart."

That is all part of comforting the patient through difficult times - other patients simply want to smash down barriers to employment.

Innovative

Charity director David Dudley added: "They will get advice, information on drugs and encouragement to live life to the full, to get a job if they can; we talk to employers as well.

"That bit of it is going to disappear. That is the most valued bit, certainly the innovative bit which I thought the assembly would be interested in.

"It's the Welsh bit - but we can't afford it if we don't get more money."

But the group has already lost five outreach workers - which it calls its "front-line troops" - due to uncertainty over its future and the assembly is helping out with some funding.