A FUNDRAISER for the Epilepsy Society will take place on Saturday, in memory of a young mother from Marhamchurch, who would have turned 25 this week.

Georgie Butler (pictured) passed away on October 28 2013, at the age of 20, having suffered with epilepsy all her life, and leaving behind her then baby daughter Cali, who is now five-years-old.

Georgie would have turned 25 today (Thursday), and with the Epilepsy Society’s purple day for awareness due to take place on March 26, Georgie’s family decided to hold a fundraiser this Saturday, March 24 to coincide with it.

It will be a celebration to remember Georgie at The Bray (village hall), Marhamchurch, from 12pm to 4pm, with free entry. There will be lunches, including homemade soups, quiches, and cakes, all very reasonably priced.

Budehaven music student Alyssa Wint will be performing on the day, and there will be a fantastic raffle with prizes donated by local people.

Prizes include a voucher for the el Barco restaurant at the Bencoolen, two tickets for The Big Sheep, 12 weeks of swimming lessons at Holsworthy Leisure Centre, and an Eden Project family ticket.

When Georgie’s parents, Neal and Sue, and sisters Charlie and Laurie-Mai, lost their eldest daughter and big sister to SUDEP — sudden unexpected death in epilepsy — they started a fundraising campaign for the Epilepsy Society, and thanks to the support of other family and friends as well, have managed to raise more than £10,000.

Support has included Sue’s brother walking from Bristol to Bude, and Sue’s sister holding a ‘danceathon’ in the Cotswolds.

For their efforts, Neal and Sue were invited to a special ‘thank you’ event held by the Epilepsy Society at Covent Garden in London in 2015, and, wanting to highlight the hard work and dedication their daughters had put into the fundraising process decided that Charlie and Laurie-Mai were the two to go instead.

Sue said this latest fundraiser would be particularly nice for Cali, as she was only a baby when they had their last big fundraiser, to mark Georgie’s 21st birthday. This was an all day event in the village hall, culminating at the Bullers Arms where Georgie’s favourite local band were playing to end what was a very special day for the family and friends.

Sue said: “Cali’s five now, and it will be quite nice this time because she knows a bit more about it — she’s calling it her epilepsy party!

“People went above and beyond last time in quite a small community and people have their own things they support, but it’s really about the awareness. It’s quite surprising for me, I follow the Epilepsy Society and other pages, it’s sad to see how many have lost their lives.”

Sue added she hopes there can be more research into epilepsy so people ‘don’t have to go through what we did, or what Georgie did’.