STARS currently has 30 volunteers recruited from our members I.e. people with syncope and reflex anoxic seizures and their carers. This project seeks to recruit a further 30, to build a team of 60. As the charity’s Chief Executive and Founder was a volunteer for many years herself, there is an appreciation of the uniquely valuable role that volunteers play. This project is specifically looking to recruit volunteers who can act as a local point of contact for enquiries to the national helpline, to research local service provision, promote the project to the media and make presentations to interested groups. As well as regular training days, appropriate resources and regular encouragement from STARS staff will support the volunteers. The education programme will consist of information packs, a training DVD, an advisory website and in-house presentations. Resources will be available to all places of education that syncope sufferers attend, as well as upon request. The advisory website will be primarily aimed at teachers, staff and carers, providing them with information and guidance on condition management. This resource will also offer advice to parents and the young sufferer and will include curriculum supportive classroom resources on blackouts and syncope. STARS plans to implement in-house presentations, to be delivered by trained volunteers. The volunteers will be part of the STARS new First Point Contact Volunteer Network. This will be an effective way to educate staff, teachers and carers on the condition and offer training in syncope management. An information pack is to be an essential project resource in informing and educating staff. This will be sent to all parents of sufferers who have contacted the charity, who will forward it on to the relevant staff in their child’s educational setting. It will reach the staff directly and will provide the place of education with material that they can keep, refer to, and most importantly, use. The contents of the pack will provide the individuals responsible for a syncope sufferer with the necessary information and materials- for example a sample care plan and awareness posters- that they will require to successfully support their charge. The packs will also include a staff training DVD, conveying a ‘mock up’ syncopal episode in a classroom situation, and will include interactive information to further staff education. This project will provide a network of skilled volunteers across the UK dedicated to raising awareness of Syncope and RAS in education establishments. Volunteer Champions will be recruited who will have regional responsibility to maintain high levels of education delivery and continuously recruit new volunteers. Training will be held regularly in each region and will be facilitated by the relevant Volunteer Champion. STARS intends to train its volunteers to high levels possible with presentation skills, fundraising skills and personal safety and risk assessing skills a high priority. This scheme will have a broader impact as well by raising general awareness among the public at large, this should help empower people to seek the appropriate diagnosis and treatment. 13 years of support for people and carers living with the condition, 5,000 patient/carer members, relationships with the most influential specialists in this field and leading medical companies means that STARS is uniquely placed to assess what will make a positive difference. Extensive anecdotal evidence about in-appropriate diagnosis and treatment is supported by the fact that there are only 450 pacemakers implanted per million people in the UK compared with 900 per million in Western Europe and 1,000 per million in the US. New technology has recently made the diagnosis of syncope much easier and for many people fitting a pacemaker may be all that is needed to prevent further attacks. STARS was asked to provide experts, including medical and patients as well as Trudie Lobban, to help draft Chapter 8 of the new National Service Framework on Arrhythmia and Sudden Cardiac Death which was launched in March 2005. This addition highlights the need to provide patients with timely, high quality support and information based on their needs and to provide medical staff with good quality, timely information. Syncope is a type of arrhythmia (heart rhythm disorder). STARS is in the unique position of already having well established links with experts and the largest database of sufferers in the world to draw upon to identify needs and solutions to problems identified. By improving awareness of blackouts and unexplained loss of consciousness, as possible symptoms of syncope the “Shine A Light on Education” Project will mean that more people receive the treatment they need. Being able to find services in their area directly will enable people to play a more active role in their treatment. Improved diagnosis resulting from better sign-posting by individuals and professionals will mean that more people receive effective treatment, giving them back control over their lives, restoring their confidence and ability to lead an active, independent life providing them with a quality of life which is currently denied. Regular updates in the latest research and medical advances will enable people to actively participate in decisions that affect their health and quality of life. Ongoing support, advice and information for people for whom treatment is not yet available will mean that they do not feel isolated by their condition and can use networking, local and web-based, to share their experiences with similarly people. Improved diagnosis, service mapping and practical support such as presentations to staff and management committees will help primary care providers to develop specialist multi-disciplinary services such as Rapid Access Blackouts Clinics and Syncope Clinics. In the most basic of terms STARS aims to help the following groups: 1. Individuals, carers and families living with syncope and reflex anoxic seizures. 2. Primary medical professionals and agencies. 3. Funders of health. Beneficiaries: · 8 Regional Volunteer Champions recruited. · 30 new volunteers will be recruited and trained to provide a team of 60 regional outreach volunteers for patients/carers. · 90,000 people will access syncope services in their area after sign posting by the national database. · 7,000 people will feel less isolated as a result of local and web-based networking. · 40,000 resource packs will have been sent to groups who live, work or play with people with syncope. · All primary care trusts will be running services specifically for people with syncope. · Better understanding and education for the general public and health professionals