My vision and hope

By Liljia Polo-Richards

A warm welcome to Allergy Companions and thank you for all your support so far. Since our launch in October, we have been overwhelmed by your kind words of support and encouragement on what I think is the start of a new and positive era for the allergy and coeliac community.  

Why did I start my website? My little boy Francesco, who is now four, was diagnosed with a severe nut allergy when he was only 13 months old. The idea behind Allergy Companions was conceived while on holiday in Norfolk, after an upsetting experience at a restaurant that served us food covered in nuts, notwithstanding our multiple warnings to serve all our food nut free. For anyone who knows how serious food allergies can be, you will appreciate how stressful this experience was for us. I wanted to do something positive for my son, and for every single person affected by food allergies, intolerances and coeliac disease, so that over time this would not happen again. I know that my story resonates with a lot of people.

Since launch, my baby girl was also diagnosed with an allergy, this time fish. This makes me even more determined to make Allergy Companions a success. I want my children to grow up feeling that they have choices when it comes to eating out, knowing that restaurants will serve them food that is safe for them to eat and being included when their friends organise a meal. Nobody wants to sit at the allergy table and nobody wants to feel left out.

I want food venues across the UK (and now Ireland) to understand that eating out with allergies can be worrying for those affected, and yet those very people still have a desire to do one of the most simple things in life: eat and enjoy food. People don’t choose to have a dietary restriction, and they have to live with it. Looking after those affected by these conditions means they will forever be grateful to you for making them feel special, and they will use our website to praise you so that others can find you. We have received some wonderful reviews so far, and we cannot wait to see more in the coming weeks. By sharing your review you are helping others in the same situation as you. Imagine each of us leaving a review on our website… we would have so much choice!

We are all about positive change, and we want everyone to be on board. Customers and businesses.

Change is never easy. It takes effort, change in mindset and it involves different parties to disagree to then agree. I sometimes like to compare the change needed in the allergy world to some of the changes we have witnessed in the last few decades. Let me explain.

At the moment I feel as though the messages from the allergy and coeliac community are very clear. We all want to be treated with respect by people and restaurants, we want people to understand that our conditions are serious and, most importantly, that we don’t have a choice. Somewhere that message is getting lost; not completely, but it is not clear to the majority of the population. Rewind to a few decades. Being of a “different” sexual orientation was not accepted by society, and was even considered illegal until not long ago. Nowadays, companies and individuals embrace and celebrate differences amongst individuals, and appreciate that there is no “one size fits all in society”. Therefore, people with different sexual orientation and preference are often invited to share their story so that others can learn from them and also give the confidence to others to be more open about the way they are. I almost feel this is what needs to happen in the allergy/coeliac space. We simply need to normalise the conversation with people outside of our world, so that they don’t think of allergies and being coeliac as something they have heard of but know nothing about.

You often hear of restaurants refusing to serve people with allergies – they are not welcome and they have absolutely zero interest in trying to cook a safe meal for them. How can that be possible? Surely the person running the restaurant or chain wouldn’t be so closed off in their thinking if their son or daughter was affected? Surely. To me, if feels that all the unwelcoming messages and strong disclaimers that we see time and time again are simply the result of ignorance. Ignorance means “lack of knowledge or information” so perhaps all we need to do is educate society and businesses. Perhaps people simply need have a better understanding of what it’s like to live with a medical condition of this kind. Maybe they need to see pictures of the children, families, individuals behind “allergies”, all the people they don’t welcome into their restaurant. All the people that they are ok with eating “at their own risk” because they have an allergy. The people that are not invited to a meal out because their dietary profile is not seen as standard.

Maybe these people need to spend an afternoon with my children to see how lovely and sweet they are, and that perhaps they are welcome at their restaurant… if only those disclaimers were removed and replaced by “all customers are welcome”