GreenShield Award Winner Spotlight: Intractable.org.uk

Congratulations to Intractable! - A Collective Force for Justice, Courage & Life-Saving Advocacy

Across the UK, there are children who are alive today because a small group of parents refused to accept the limits imposed on them by a broken system. Parents who were told there was nothing more that could be done. Parents who watched their children endure relentless seizures, unbearable suffering, and, in some cases, were sent home under palliative care pathways after every NHS treatment option had been exhausted.

Instead of giving up, they chose to fight.

Today, Global Cannabinoid Solutions is honoured to recognise the epilepsy charity Intractable, and to celebrate the extraordinary leadership of Joanne Griffiths, Karen Gray, Graham Levy, and Elaine Gennard — individuals whose courage, tenacity, and refusal to remain silent have reshaped the UK medical cannabis landscape and continue to protect families facing profound health inequality.

This GreenShield Award acknowledges their collective contribution: their moral courage, their truth-telling, their ferocity in the face of indifference, and their unwavering commitment to children whose voices are too often unheard.

They did what institutions could not — and in many cases chose not to do. They fought for children’s lives, and almost seven years on, they are still fighting.

The Movement That Changed the Law

End Our Pain began as a campaign led by parents pushed far beyond what any family should ever be asked to endure. Their children were experiencing hundreds of seizures a day — thousands a month — despite having tried every available NHS treatment. For some families, there were no remaining clinical options. They were sent home to manage the unmanageable or told to prepare for the worst.

Yet in certain cases, cannabis-based medicines brought dramatic and undeniable results. Seizure rates that had dominated every hour of a child’s life were reduced drastically — in some cases from hundreds per day to almost none at all. Children who had lived in constant crisis began to stabilise. Families saw their children reclaim moments of childhood that had once seemed impossible.

But at the time, the law did not allow access.

This group came together not as campaigners by choice, but by necessity. They spoke publicly when it was painful. They stood in front of cameras and Members of Parliament while carrying unimaginable personal fear. They told the truth when it was deeply uncomfortable for policymakers to hear. They demanded justice when they were repeatedly told to wait.

And because of their relentless advocacy, the law changed in 2018.

It was a historic moment — a national shift driven not by institutions, but by parents who refused to let children suffer in silence.

When the Law Changed, But Access Did Not

While the End Our Pain campaign succeeded in changing legislation, it exposed a devastating reality: legalisation did not mean access.

Families soon discovered that cannabis-based medicines were still largely unavailable through the NHS. Instead, they were forced into the private system, facing costs that ranged from hundreds to thousands of pounds every single month. These were not optional treatments — for many children, these medicines were life-saving.

Parents sold their homes. They remortgaged. They sold family heirlooms and personal possessions. Some families travelled repeatedly to the Netherlands, where cannabis medicines were significantly cheaper, risking exhaustion, legal uncertainty, and emotional strain simply to keep their children stable.

Others lived in constant fear that a delayed prescription, a funding refusal, or a bureaucratic decision by a non-specialist panel would push their child back into intensive care.

This was the injustice left behind when the law changed — and it was the moment The Intractable Charity was born.

Intractable – A Lifeline Built by Families, for Families

Intractable emerged because families had no other choice. It became a lifeline for parents navigating a system that continued to fail them, offering practical support, fundraising, guidance, and emotional reassurance when families were at breaking point.

The charity supports families forced to self-fund cannabis prescriptions, helps parents navigate the complex and intimidating landscape of private clinics and prescribers, and advises those who have been repeatedly denied NHS access. It supports families who are too frightened to go public, those facing urgent prescription gaps, and those at risk of hospitalisation because medicine has become unaffordable.

This work is done with no institutional funding and at enormous personal cost. It is emotionally exhausting, relentless, and often unseen — yet it saves lives.

Joanne, Karen, Graham, and Elaine have built something extraordinary: a community of solidarity, advocacy, and survival for hundreds of families who would otherwise face this journey alone.

Standing Against an Unjust System

Despite the law changing nearly seven years ago, only a very small number of children receive consistent NHS-funded access to cannabis-based medicines.

Families continue to face impossible choices: crippling private healthcare bills, international travel to secure affordable medication, airport risks, prescription delays that trigger medical emergencies, and funding panels that lack a specialist understanding of refractory childhood epilepsy.

This is not an abstract policy issue.

It is a matter of life, death, and dignity.

And throughout it all, Intractable has remained at the centre — advocating relentlessly, meeting with health officials and policymakers, challenging flawed decision-making, and amplifying the voices of families who would otherwise go unheard.

Seven Years On – Still Fighting, Still Showing Up

Nearly seven years after the law changed, Intractable continues to fight tirelessly. This year alone, the charity has organised major fundraising efforts, including participation in events such as the Great North Run, while continuing to engage directly with policymakers, regulators, clinicians, and NHS stakeholders.

This is sustained advocacy, not a moment.
This is endurance, not symbolism.

Learn more about Intractables incredible work

Collective Heroism – The Courage to Speak When Others Won’t

This GreenShield Award recognises the defining qualities shared by Joanne, Karen, Graham, and Elaine: ferocity in the face of injustice, tenacity through grief and exhaustion, truth-telling when silence would be easier, and moral courage when the system resists change.

Their humanity carries the emotional weight of countless families barely holding on. Their impact is undeniable. Children are alive because of their work.

There is no exaggeration in that statement.

A Deeply Deserved Recognition

To the whole team, Joanne, Karen, Graham, and Elaine, as well as all of the organisation's supporters and family members:

Your courage changed legislation.
Your advocacy exposed inequality.
Your compassion holds families together.
Your persistence continues to save lives.

On behalf of Global Cannabinoid Solutions, and with the deepest respect:

Thank you.
You have changed the course of medical history in the UK.
This GreenShield Award is for everything you’ve done — and everything you continue to give.

If You Want to Stand With Families Demanding Fair Access to life-saving medicine, you can follow them below.

Intractable (UK epilepsy & medicinal cannabis charity)

🌐 Website: https://www.intractable.org.uk/ Intractable Epilepsy
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/intractablecharity/ facebook.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intractable_charity/ Instagram

End Our Pain (UK medicinal cannabis access campaign)

🌐 Campaign site: https://endourpain.org/ End Our Pain
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndOurPain/ facebook.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/end_our_pain/ Instagram