Crossed Grain

2 | SUPPORTER NEWS We are delighted to announce that three new research projects began this autumn, funded by your incredible support. The first project will look at cell interactions within the gut which we hope will lead to new solutions to treat coeliac disease. The second project looks at developing psychological support tools to help adolescents cope with their condition. The third and final project looks at ways to improve the diagnosis and treatment of gluten ataxia, where gluten causes the immune system to damage the nervous system. Without the support of you, our community, it would not be possible to carry out this vital research, so we want to say thank you for being part of such an amazing effort. In Memory of Maureen Funnell When Maureen Funnell sadly passed away earlier this year, her sons Paul and Keith decided to ask family and friends for donations to Coeliac UK in her memory. They told us what Coeliac UK meant to their mum in their own words. “Our mum was diagnosed with coeliac disease in the 1980s. She’d become seriously ill and lost an incredible amount of weight, the doctors were afraid that she had New research projects underway For more information on the current research projects visit: www.coeliac.org.uk/research-projects cancer. Thankfully she started to recover really quickly once she started on the gluten free diet. But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Back in those days there was no “Free From” aisle in supermarkets, and she found going on holiday or socialising really difficult. She would often just bring all her own food when going out, and the gluten free bread at the time was like cardboard. Thankfully this has got so much better over the years. She found fantastic support from her local Coeliac UK group. She could share her experiences and recipes with people who were in the same situation. She got more confident in cooking in different ways and found over time that people were much more receptive when she talked about why she couldn’t eat certain things. She would sometimes get upset and frustrated but the support she received from Coeliac UK meant it never got her down for long. As a nursery school teacher she touched the lives of so many people, and we knew that asking for donations in her memory for Coeliac UK would have been what she wanted.” Donating in memory of a loved one is an amazing way to remember them. We have partnered with MuchLoved to help make funeral collections simple, and to offer a lasting way of celebrating the life of a loved one. For more information visit: www.coeliac.org.uk/gift-in-memory Maureen Funnell, 1937-2023