This year is a very special year for Coeliac UK as we are celebrating our 40th Anniversary.  We have come a long way since the start of the Charity in 1968.

Things have hugely improved for people with coeliac disease in the past forty years.  GPs now understand more about the condition and prescribe a gluten-free diet, rather than the banana diet or valium.  We now have a large range of gluten-free products to choose from, rather than bread in a tin.  Research has advanced and we are discovering new genetic factors that predispose people to coeliac disease, building on our knowledge of the condition.

We have come a long way, but we still have much work to do.  We are still working very hard to improve the provision of gluten-free food across the food service sector, to get coeliac disease higher on the agenda with policy makers and advance research and understanding of coeliac disease.  While we are striving to improve the lives of people with coeliac disease, it is worth remembering how far we've come. 

Don't just take our word for it.  Here are some testimonials from some of Members, reflecting back on the last forty years of Coeliac UK:

"The last ten years have been a lot easier for people with coeliac disease with the stores having a great selection of gluten-free foods."  Mrs Barbara Ephgrave, diagnosed 1975

"Food producers have now realised that they have a greater market for their products if they are gluten-free, also restaurants and hotels are more aware and offer gluten-free meals."  Colin Chambers, diagnosed 1963.  

"Awareness has changed with the publicity generated by Coeliac UK....in the next forty years I would like to see more of the same and as much research as can be afforded."  Mrs Curry, diagnosed 1931.

"I remember tinned bread, after trying two tins I never ate bread until the newer types were introduced.  Thank goodness for our manufacturers of the twenty-first century!" Sheila Cockram, diagnosed 1978

"Things are much better now.  More and more people I meet have some understanding.  The problem is most people still have a lot of confusion and misconceptions....I would like the knowledge of gluten-free food to grow and for manufacturers to produce naturally gluten-free food in a gluten-free environment."  Lindsay Gladstone, diagnosed 1970.

"I joined The Coeliac Society, as it was then, in the autumn of 1968 on behalf of our baby daughter, Claire, who had been diagnosed in the late summer of 1968 at the age of 9 months.  The help we received from Elizabeth Segal and Peter Beneson, who started The Coeliac Society, was invaluable to two first time parents who had never heard of Coeliac Disease."  Rosalie Hobden, diagnosed 1971.

If you would like to share your story with us, download our form by clicking here.

If you would like to join us in celebrating our fortieth anniversary by attending one of our balls, please click here.