Write to your MP about allergies

I’ve just written a letter to my MP calling for an Allergy Tsar to represent the growing need for a burgeoning problem of allergies and anaphylaxis in the UK.

Because for whatever reason allergies are on the rise yet support is on the decrease.

We keep talking about it and trying to raise awareness but we still hear about unavoidable deaths from allergies, usually young adults or kids when mistakes are made when they’re eating out.

We need to do better.

These kids are living in fear. Many of them are hiding away at home and refusing to go out.

Too scared to take the risk of meeting the assassin that could be waiting for every single one of us who lives with allergies.

This applies to us adults too!

I shared the Natasha Foundation plea in a recent blog, We need an Allergy Tsar. Please visit this blog and sign the petition for change.

Now they have a letter template that you can download to send to your local MP.

It feels like it’s not enough but it’s a start. We still have a long way to go.

I have been campaigning and lobbying parliament now for years and on every occasion we were seeing the same problems. Nothing changes.

• Ten years pass and we are still having the same conversations. 20 years, the same…
• Young families don’t get the help they need when their baby shows signs of eczema and allergies are not diagnosed until the baby has an anaphylactic reaction, despite early warning signs.
• Restaurants still don’t always take allergies seriously.
• A friend whose son has a nut allergy and has had an anaphylactic reaction has not been prescribed an adrenaline auto injector. Just told to avoid nuts. This is what happened to me some 35 years ago. There are NICE guidelines for this, it should not be getting brushed under the carpet. It’s serious.
• Schools need to do better to ensure inclusion and education at early ages.
• We all need to do better at education because I still regularly meet people who don’t’ know how or where to administer adrenaline, or who don’t realise it’s life threatening.
• We all need to take responsibility for our own safety, be bold, be confident, demand the information we need and be strong enough to walk away if we don’t feel safe.

Together we can make a difference.

Click on the button below to download the template letter

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Do you still meet people who don’t understand anaphylaxis?

Are you still explaining how to use adrenaline?

I don’t mind people asking, there is no such thing as a stupid question, but it just feels like an uphill battle sometimes.

Keep on raising awareness for me please!

On the plus side I’ve had some wonderful eating out experiences since lockdown. More on that soon!