Chris Dilloway, Chair

Chris Dilloway brings a wealth of experience to his role as Chair of the Board at Coeliac UK. With a background as a partner at Hakluyt, a global strategic advisory firm founded in 1995 that supports corporate leaders and investors on the opportunities and risks facing their businesses, and dedicated service as a trustee of Coeliac UK since 2022, Chris offers invaluable insights into the challenges faced by those living with coeliac disease. 

As a parent of a child diagnosed with the condition, he possesses a deep understanding of the importance of living gluten free. Chris's commitment to Coeliac UK reflects his passion for supporting individuals and families affected by coeliac disease. 

Nicky Valmas - Vice Chair

Nicky Valmas is a management consultant with over 30 years experience specialising in HR, procurement and sales & marketing spanning many sectors from Finance to IT and FMCG, all underpinned by an Honours Degree in Quantity Surveying and qualifications in other disciplines such as Project management. As a versatile pragmatic problem solver, Nicky has been Managing Director of Flo Consulting Ltd  for nearly 16 years and provides change and transformation consultancy and interim management to a wide range of businesses.

Nicky’s husband Tim has coeliac disease and together they have fund raised aggressively for the charity since Tim’s diagnosis in 2006 and Nicky hopes to use her skills and knowledge to help support and improve the awareness  of the disease in both the general population and the restaurant arena as Tim is passionate about eating out in a safe and enjoyable way.

Lawrence Broadie

Lawrence Broadie is the co-owner and Managing Director at Electrify, a creative marketing and communications agency that has extensive experience working with charity and publicly funded organisations across the UK. 

A former Head of Marketing at Heart of Midlothian FC, and trustee at the club's official charity Big Hearts Community Trust, Lawrence has worked in agencies for a decade, founding Electrify in 2015.

Lawrence is also a regular public speaker, delivering third sector training courses on marketing, communications and storytelling. He was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2012. 

Anne Davis

Anne Davis is a Chartered Accountant, with over 25 years’ experience in strategy, governance, risk, compliance, regulation and change management gained in a wide variety of sectors. She has been a trustee and chair of several charity boards in the well-being, health, and social care sectors.

Most recently, Anne was Associate Director for RSM UK, where she had oversight responsibility for anti-money and sanctions compliance to mitigate legal and regulatory risks. Prior to that she had various senior roles in professional accountancy bodies. She also has experience of charity accounting, membership support, stakeholder engagement and government policy making.

Anne’s youngest son has coeliac disease. As a result, she is aware of the challenges associated with the disease and is a strong advocate of improving the accessibility of gluten free food at home and in the retail and hospitality industries.

Kate Denham

Kate Denham is a charity and public sector strategy specialist with 16 years’ experience supporting organisations with social purpose to ‘do good better.’ Kate is the former Group Head of Strategy for the RNIB - one of the largest charities in the UK. She now runs The Public Good Company, working at executive level with a range of charities, local government, health and membership organisations. She started her career in investment banking and strategy consultancy after completing her degree in Politics, Philosophy & Economics at the University of Oxford.

Kate is also an experienced Board member and trustee. She is currently a Secretary of State appointed board member for both Transport Focus and the Coal Authority,  specialising on advising on risk, strategy, and transformation of service delivery for the 21st century. She was previously on the board of Babyzone UK – an early year’s charity, Accelerate CIC - a nurse-led social enterprise, St Martin of Tours Housing Association and Healthwatch Croydon. She also sits on the Office of Rail and Road Consumer expert panel ensuring policy is designed to reflect the needs of all rail and road users.

Most importantly, Kate is mum to Teddy and Herbie. Teddy was diagnosed with coeliac disease the day before his fourth birthday. Given the relatively early diagnosis, Kate is enthusiastic about the idea that there could be a meaningful research breakthrough during the course of Teddy’s life which would make a significant difference and render gluten free living no longer necessary.

Aishah Farooq

Aishah Farooq's journey into advocating for the voices of children and young people began with her own experience of accessing healthcare services as a young person. This led her to joining University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust's Youth Forum, where she was involved in shaping how healthcare should be delivered from a young persons' perspective. Her passion for improving healthcare services acted as driver to her to becoming a Trust young Governor, where she sits on the Council of Governors and ensures youth voice is involved in every decision.

Aishah is a member of the National NHS Youth Forum and has led a Health Inequalities project, from which the recommendations and outcomes of the project were successfully included and shaped a position paper in response to the White Paper released by the OHID. Aishah has also used her lived experience of accessing healthcare services to contribute, as a lay member, on the NICE guideline on Babies, Children and Young People's Experiences of Healthcare.

She is currently a Patient Public Voice Partner for the asthma workstream and also sits as a Board Member for the Children and Young People's Transformation board at NHSE. She is currently in her second year studying Pharmacology at the University of Bristol.

Aishah has been diagnosed with coeliac disease and is particularly interested in ensuring that children and young people are provided with the support and early and accurate diagnosis to prevent future complications associated to coeliac disease. 

Clive Hart

Clive Hart is a qualified management accountant with over 15 years of experience. He has worked in a number of senior finance roles, covering different lines of business and countries. As a trustee for Coeliac UK, Clive will bring his financial and operational experience to help the charity achieve its strategic objectives.

He is currently the Legal & Financial Director for Capgemini UK plc.   

Anita Patel

Anita Patel is a GP based in the Midlands. With a personal interest in lifestyle medicine, she uses her knowledge to educate patients on how diet and food can affect health and wellbeing. She was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2010, and her sister soon after. Thereafter followed a period of learning and passing on information on what a gluten free diet involves to both family and friends. 

As a Trustee for Coeliac UK Anita hopes to assist in developing strategies to increase awareness in both the general population and health professionals, so that people are diagnosed and treated earlier. Both her background and her work as a GP means she has insight into the ever changing environment of the NHS, Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and healthcare services, and enables her to bring her unique perspective, as both a healthcare professional and patient, to the charity.

Alan Perkins

Alan Perkins is a Professor of Medical Physics at the University of Nottingham and Honorary Consultant Clinical Scientist, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Professor Perkins is also a member of Coeliac UK having been diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2010 after a brief period of acute anaemia. This was the first time in his life he had been a patient in the hospital he had worked in for 30 years.

He also holds the position of Chair of our newly formed Research Strategy Board (RSB) to which he brings not only a personal insight into the condition but vast expertise in research, and along with the Board, will help us to work towards a step change in research into coeliac disease.

Gerry Robins

Gerry Robins graduated from Newcastle upon Tyne in 1995. Following jobs in the North East he moved to Yorkshire to specialise in Gastroenterology in 1998. From 1999 to 2001 Gerry undertook successfully an MD thesis into the electrogenic causes of diarrhoea. Subsequently, he was appointed a Lecturer in Medicine at the University of Leeds, during which time he undertook further research into the links between obesity and colorectal cancer, and the nutritional aspects of coeliac disease and the gluten free diet with subsequent presentations at international meetings and publications. Gerry was appointed as a Consultant Gastroenterologist at York in April 2008.

As well as clinical commitments Gerry is active in NHS Management and Governance including senior roles at York and Scarborough NHS Foundation Trust and working for the GMC. Gerry continues to participate in clinical research in coeliac disease and still sees many patients with coeliac disease in his clinics. Over the years whilst acknowledging significant improvement, Gerry acknowledges the challenges patients with coeliac disease still face with regards to getting a diagnosis and receiving the ongoing care and support that they need and deserve.

Miranda Sheffield

Miranda Sheffield is an Investment Director at Bridgepoint, a private asset growth investor specialising in private equity and private debt. She spearheads the introduction and integration of applications, guiding their adoption and ensuring their effective use. Her strategic oversight extends to data management and governance, encompassing the delivery of data platforms, the execution of data analytics, and the generation of comprehensive reports.

Miranda has 15+ years of experience in delivering technology and data solutions to a wide range of business teams, from core operational company-wide platforms to small bespoke applications designed to meet niche business requirements. She has supported both internal/external audits and regulatory reporting requirements throughout her career.

Miranda was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2013 following dramatic weight loss and severe anaemia. Miranda hopes to use her skills and experience to support the charity’s technology and business strategy. She is particularly keen to continue to raise awareness and improve faster diagnosis of the disease (having been misdiagnosed for 12 years herself).