Plymouth Coeliac Group Update

23 May

I blogged in April about the Plymouth Coeliac Group and how they were looking for volunteers to keep the group going, as Alice Williams and some of the other committee members were standing down.  I’m delighted to say that three more volunteers have been found to assist me on the committee, and that the group can continue.  An update was this week sent out to members to introduce the new team and update them on the groups activities.  If you are a Coeliac UK member in or near Plymouth and would like to be receiving group emails please get in touch with me and I will arrange.  Below is a copy of the email that went out this week:

Alice Williams wrote to you all prior to the April AGM looking for volunteers to take over the Group Organiser and Treasurer roles, and informing that the group was in danger of folding should nobody come forward.  Those who were present at the AGM will know that we have been successful in our quest to fill the positions, and the good news is that the group can continue.  Lai-Yin Wong Brooks takes over from Alice as Group Organiser and Lisa Bullard replaces Harry Booth as Treasurer.  As previously announced Kevin Gollop also takes over from Vivien Johnson as Database and Membership Secretary.  Steven Regulski has also offered his help and will join the committee and assist the new team.

LaiLai-Yin Wong Brooks (Group Organiser) said “I am looking forward to this new role. I want to make people aware of what coeliac is all about and help existing people look at alternatives that are available to make their lives easier.  I have a business called 8 and have recently been developing some new Chinese gluten free dishes.  I want people whether they have coeliac or any other medical conditions to eat healthy and lead an active lifestyle.”

GFKev_smallKevin Gollop (Database/Membership Secretary) said “I work in IT for Local World, the parent company of The Herald and I was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2011.  I have been active amongst the coeliac community in Plymouth through my coeliac blog, Gluten Free by the Sea, and I am very much looking forward to getting involved with the group and using this new avenue to help fellow coeliacs.”

lisa_smallLisa Bullard (Treasurer) said “I was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2005. I own my own bookkeeping and accounts business called Aplus Accounts and used to work with Kevin Gollop at the Herald before taking redundancy. I am happy to take over as Treasurer and look forward to working with Lai & Kevin for the Plymouth Coeliac UK support group.”

SteveSteven Regulski said “I am 64 years old and a retired Construction Project Manager, Married with 5 Children. I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease in September 2012, following a Heart Attack and by-pass surgery. I am looking forward to getting involved with the Plymouth Coeliac group and supporting the other committee members.”

Rhoda Booth, Daphne Vidak, Rachel Taylor, Suzanne Stephenson and Lyn Crews were voted back on to the committee at the AGM and the new team thank them for their continued support.  We would also like to pass on our gratitude to Alice, Vivien and Harry for their great work and service with the group over the years and also for their on-going support during the transition period.  A big thank you also to Kathryn Miller from Coeliac UK who gave a very interesting talk on the latest research that the charity is undertaking at the AGM.

For Gut Feeling Week, Coeliac UK’s name for the 2013 awareness week, Lai-Yin and Steven manned a coeliac awareness stand at Sainsbury’s Marsh Mills to help spread the word to potentially undiagnosed coeliacs.  The group also drafted a press release that was sent to The Herald and received a mention as part of some excellent coverage.  You can read that article here, or view a PDF of the page here.

The new team are looking to push forward and one of the big challenges is to drive up engagement with younger people and encourage them to join in at meetings and events.  To this end the group is now on Twitter and Facebook, and aim to be actively talking to members and offering tips and advice through those channels.  So please, if you use those mediums then pop over and give us a follow or a like.  We will also be looking to make more use of the group page on the Coeliac UK website.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoeliacUkPlymouth

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoeliacUKPlym

Website: http://www.coeliac.org.uk/get-involved/local-voluntary-support-group/group/plymouth

We also have to be mindful that not all members are computer users and we will not forget those people and aim to keep everyone involved.  We would love to hear your suggestions for the group going forward, and we look forward to meeting you all in the near future.

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My Gut Feeling Week

19 May

Awarenesss WeekWell just let me see wow! What a week Gut Feeling Week has been.  I have been blown away by the fantastic sense of feeling and togetherness amongst the coeliac community on Twitter and Facebook.  There has also been great support from non-coeliac gluten free folk too which is very much appreciated.  I think we have all done a great job in trying to raise coeliac disease awareness, and if we can help just one person get diagnosed it will all have been worth it.

CookiesMy wife Abby, my parents and my cousin Chris are all doing a gluten free week to help raise awareness with their friends and colleagues.  I thank them for their support and this means a lot to me.  I started the week by taking some of Abby’s delicious home baked gluten free (of course!) cookies in to work to announce the start of the week to my colleagues.  I also posted a blog aimed at non-coeliacs giving a (hopefully) concise overview of coeliac disease and what the week is all about.  I then asked all my Twitter and Facebook friends to share this to help raise awareness of coeliac disease to all their friends and followers.  There was a great number of retweets and shares so I thank everyone who did for their support.  This post is here and it’s not too late to share!

On Tuesday I posted about some great gluten free offers that companies were running for the week and I thank those companies for supporting the cause.  Coeliac UK have been encouraging people to share their diagnosis stories for the week and I have really enjoyed reading them.  There have been some powerful and moving stories, but at the same time uplifting as we read how people have come out of the other side.  It’s also been concerning reading how the medical profession has let so many people down.  We can only hope that things are improving and that weeks like this are raising awareness with GP’s and not just the general public.  It has been an honour to be in a position to share the diagnosis stories of some people who do not (yet!) have their own blogs, and I thank Carrie, Becca and Steph for being so brave and letting me share their stories.  Even now reading other people’s stories make me feel less alone and it’s been enlightening to read some of the pre-diagnosis symptoms.  Steph’s story in particular had many seemingly uncommon similarities to my own.

CarrieBeccaSteph

HeraldAs I work in the I.T. department of my local newspaper (The Plymouth Herald) I asked a colleague if they were planning on running a story for Gut Feeling week, and thankfully they thought this was a great idea.  They also ended up running a cut down version of my own diagnosis story and ended up dedicating a full page to raise coeliac disease awareness.  Lai-Yin Wong Brooks and I drafted a press release on behalf of the Coeliac UK Plymouth Voluntary Support Group, and this also featured heavily.  I am very grateful to my colleagues Clare and Sophie at The Herald for doing such a fantastic job as you can see that for yourself here.

We also visited Las Iguanas during the week which has newly opened in Plymouth.  As we were in a large group it gave a good chance to talk about Gut Feeling week and what it meant, particularly as Abby was eating gluten free too.  I had a great meal, though Abby struggled a bit to find something she liked that was both gluten free and vegetarian.  You can read my review here.  Hopefully Gut Feeling week will help spread the word to restaurants and more will have a separate gluten free menu like Las Iguanas.

So a brilliant week and a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed and helped support it.  This is the last day so let’s have one final push and spread the word.  If you’re Tweeting don’t forget to use the #GutFeeling hashtag, it would be great to get it trending.  I’d love to hear what you all got up to during the week, so please feel free to comment below and let everyone know.

Do you have bloating, fatigue, IBS, diarrhoea, vomiting, anaemia or abdominal pain? Could you be living with coeliac disease and not know it? Listen to your gut with Coeliac UK’s Gut Feeling campaign – visit www.coeliac.org.uk/gutfeeling for info.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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Las Iguanas Review

18 May

I was keen to get out for a meal for Gut Feeling week, and I’ve also been keen to try out Las Iguanas since it opened in Royal William Yard in Plymouth recently.  So when my wife, Abby, mentioned her friend had invited us to Las Iguanas for her birthday meal I was more than a little excited!  I have always been a fan of Mexican so was keen to try out the “authentic South American food, made with passion, love and lots of Latin magic.”  Las Iguanas is a chain and you can find a list of restaurant locations here.

GFMenuThe good news is that they offer a separate gluten free menu.  I had previously visited one of the Bristol branches and whilst the menus were clearly labelled with the gluten free options, I’d never been offered the separate menu before, so I wasn’t sure if it existed other than on-line.  However, when we arrived we mentioned to the waitress that we (Abby was also gluten free as she is eating gluten free this week to help support Coeliac Awareness) needed to eat gluten free we were immediately presented with the GF menu.

On this occasion I decided to go straight for the main, and I had been eyeing up a certain dish all week.  The Feijoada de Puerco is apparently the proud national dish of Brazil.  Described on the menu as “A deep, dark, richly delicious stew of slowly braised beef, smoked pork & garlic chorizo, pork shoulder, red pepper & black beans in red wine. With spring onion, garlic & coriander rice, seasonal greens, orange wedges & a sprinkle of coconut crumbs”. Mouth watering yet?  I also went for a side of refried beans as I’d skipped the starter.

BrazilianStewAbby went for the Moqueca which was a squash based creamy coconut curry with rice and spinach.  Unfortunately the gluten free vegetarian options were very limited so she didn’t have a lot of choice.  It was slightly too spicy for her, though she doesn’t do spicy really.  I took advantage of a rare occasion that I could sample some of her food while we were out, and thought it as very tasty.  I have to say my dish was absolutely amazing.  So much flavour and I loved every mouthful, I’d definitely have it again.  The refried beans were good, but not a patch on Abby’s famous version!

dessertOf course despite being full I couldn’t only review one course so I went for a dessert too.  There was a choice of sorbet, ice-cream or a “Berry Mexican Mess” which was described as “A pretty pile up. Strawberries in hibiscus syrup, mascarpone, yoghurt & crushed meringue”.  I did have a quiet chuckle to myself after ordering when I suddenly thought “did I just order fruit for pudding?” but thankfully this was more like an Eton Mess and was delicious.  The hibiscus syrup was particularly tasty.

The dishes were always confirmed as gluten free as they were served without us needing to ask and that gave a level of confidence.  I am happy to say I suffered no reaction either.  Unfortunately anything fried was not on the gluten free menu which meant salad instead of chips with some of the dishes.  One disappointment was that the tortilla chips were not GF so there were no chips and dips to nibble on at the beginning of the meal.  They appeared to be made on-site so presumably this was a cross contamination issue in the way they were prepared.

The only other disappointing thing was that I had the car!  There were an amazing array of cocktails and tequilas flying around the table and I was very envious.  I would definitely like to come back for another go, and next time I will NOT be driving.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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