Our team

Lynne Regent, Chief Executive Officer

Bill Frankland MBE and Lynne Regent , CEO of Anaphylaxis Campaign

I joined the Anaphylaxis Campaign as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in October 2008. Prior to taking up this role I spent nearly 30 years working in the NHS in the UK, ultimately as the Chief Executive of Crawley PCT. As CEO of the Anaphylaxis Campaign I ensure that the charity achieves its objective to support people with severe allergies. Alongside this, I am Vice-chairman of the National Allergy Strategy Group (NASG), which is the alliance of the professional organisation for Immunologists and Allergists, the Allergy Charities and industry partners. The NASG seeks to improve NHS allergy services. I am also a member of the Patient Organising Committee for EAACI (the Europe-wide Immunologist and Allergist professional body) and I chair the Patient Engagement Committee of the BSI (The British Society of Immunologists).

During 2013-2017 I am leading the UK patient group involvement in iFAAM which is the largest ever European-wide study of the severely allergic population to be undertaken, and is examining an integrated approach to food allergens and allergy risk management.

Moira Austin, Helpline Manager

I am the Anaphylaxis Campaign helpline manager and my chief role is to respond to calls and emails to the helpline. So if you get in touch with a problem with your child’s school, if you have concerns about travelling abroad or about food labelling for example, then it’s likely that I’ll be the person who responds! As part of my role I try to help resolve problems with food labelling and also offer guidance if someone has had an allergic reaction to either a pre-packed food or to food eaten in a restaurant/takeaway or sold loose. I also liaise with food companies on the product alerts we send out.

I manage information that comes into the office from many different sources and help colleagues to disseminate it to individual, professional and corporate members.

I have represented the Campaign as a patient group representative on consultation groups such as the NICE appraisal of Pharmalgen immunotherapy for the treatment of systemic reactions to bee and wasp venom and on the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) Allergy Care Pathways project’s Special Allergies Working Group.

I also contribute to our members’ Outlook magazine and am the magazine’s Allergy Aunt!

You can contact our helpline by calling 01252 542029 or email her.

Mandy East, National Coordinator

I have been the National Coordinator for the Anaphylaxis Campaign since 2003 and my role focuses mainly on planning and implementing our campaign programme which currently focuses on the need for generic adrenaline injectors in schools. I am also the main representative from the Anaphylaxis Campaign to external agencies such as NICE and have been involved in all recent allergy related guidelines and quality standards. More recently I have been planning our new series of educational events “Meet the Medic” and arranging interesting speakers for these meetings which are aimed at all those living with allergic disease including young people.

In addition, I also coordinate the work of the National Allergy Strategy Group (NASG) which is a coalition of health professionals and patient groups set up to campaign to improve NHS allergy services.

If anything you have read here is of interest, please feel free to get in touch with me here.

Carey Ledford, Membership and Community Fundraising Manager

If you’re looking to join the Campaign as a member or a Friend, or would like to some information about fundraising activities, I’d love to speak with you. I am the Membership and Community Fundraising Manager and together with the membership team, we can help with anything related to both family/carer membership and healthcare professional membership.

I’m also here to support and encourage fundraisers in any way I can. I really enjoy coming up with “out of the box” fundraising ideas, so if you feel you’d like to do something to raise a bit of money and awareness, but don’t know what to do, give me a call and I am sure we can come up with something! Likewise, if you have a great idea, let me know about it and I’ll do whatever I can to help.

I always appreciate feedback on our membership and supporter programme and would be really grateful for any comments or suggestions on how we can better support you. You can contact me directly here.

Sarah Birkett-Wendes, PR and Communications Manager

I look after the Communications strategy for the Campaign. This includes managing our press office, writing and distribution press releases and responding to journalists, digital communications which encompasses our website and social media channels. I also look after the production of our leaflets, posters and display stands and I am editor of the Anaphylaxis Campaign’s magazine, Outlook.

Before I joined the Campaign I worked in the Communications Department of a global pharmaceutical company. So my interest and speciality has always been healthcare communications. I enjoy giving patients a voice and representing their views and needs to the media and ensuring they are heard.

In 2014 I was very honoured to win an Inspiring Communicator Award from CharityComms for my work with the Anaphylaxis Campaign.
Feedback is always welcome on any of our communications channels – ie Outlook Magazine, our website, or leaflets. Please also let me know if you are a young person and you would like to write a guest blog for us, or if you are happy to share your story as a media case study, you can drop me an email here, I also personally tweet at @sarahberesford9.