17 March 2015

We are delighted to announce that actress and television personality Caroline Quentin is our new Charity Patron.

Caroline, who is close to completing her own diagnosis journey, is supporting our 2015 Awareness Week and diagnosis campaign which aims to improve diagnosis rates across the UK. She said: “Coeliac UK’s campaign to reach the half a million people still undiagnosed with coeliac disease really resonates with me because I struggled for years with constant stomach pains, vomiting and total exhaustion.  I’m delighted to become the Charity’s Patron and to help those, like myself, who have been in the dark too long about the cause of their pain and discomfort.”

The Charity is launching its diagnosis campaign during Awareness Week (11-17 May) and it will highlight the most common symptoms of coeliac disease, and prompt people experiencing these symptoms to ask themselves – ‘is it coeliac disease?’ A website www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk, which will launch during Awareness Week, will also provide information and advice for the general public and healthcare professionals on the symptoms and risk factors associated with undiagnosed coeliac disease. The site will feature a new self assessment checklist to help people decide whether they need to seek further medical advice about diagnosis of coeliac disease.

Sarah Sleet, Chief Executive of Coeliac UK said: “We are thrilled Caroline is supporting the Charity as our Patron and wish her well in her final leg of her diagnosis journey. Awareness of coeliac disease has increased greatly in recent years with the Charity’s Helpline supporting hundreds of callers seeking a diagnosis and 1,200 new Members joining every month. Yet, we know there are around half a million people in the UK who are still undiagnosed, which is a shocking statistic. Not only are these people suffering unnecessarily they could also be storing up additional health problems for the future.”

Read the full press release. To find out more on Caroline’s diagnosis journey, read her story in the summer edition of Crossed Grain magazine which is coming soon.