A GROUP for people who have a digestive condition have celebrated their 10th anniversary.
The Harrow Voluntary Support Group of Coeliac UK, which covers the whole of north-west London, has gathered at Waitrose in Northolt Road, South Harrow, for coffee and cakes once a month for a decade.
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease in which gluten – the protein found in wheat, barley and rye – triggers a reaction, damaging the lining of the small intestine and leaving the sufferer unable to absorb certain nutrients and with symptoms such as diarrhoea, headaches and weight loss.
Committee member Anne Agapiou said: “It goes largely undiagnosed but once you are diagnosed, you can wait up to six months to see a dietician, by which time you have had to figure it out for yourself.
“People go home and look in the cupboards and find there’s nothing they can eat.
“You can get lots of advice from other people with the condition. We sometimes get 15 to 20 people from Harrow, Barnet, Ealing, Ruislip, even Staines and Teddington.”
The support group hosts talks by researchers, organises cookery demonstrations and arranges meals out.
Ten years ago, Mrs Agapiou was approached by Waitrose’s then store manager when he spotted her checking food labels. Eamon O’Reilly struck up a conversation that led to the group being invited to hold meetings in the supermarket’s café once a month.
Mrs Agapiou added: “The support group provides reassurance and gives people hope that they can continue to live well, gluten free.”
? For more information, call group chairwoman Mary Bardsley on 020 8868 4579.
