Help more families access allergy support

The GP was stumped. The community nurse was at a loss. That’s when Lauren, pictured above, a mother of three whose kids have multiple food allergies, FPIES, asthma and eczema, was told: “You need to call Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia.”  

What followed was the 45-minute phone call Lauren wished she’d had five and a half years ago, when her eldest daughter was first diagnosed.  Lauren hung up the phone feeling listened to, understood, and supported, with a comprehensive plan to make her young family’s life easier.  

Despite the care of experienced specialists and the family GP, Lauren had been missing a crucial piece of the puzzle: practical and personalised allergy advice for her daily life. With three children under six, all with a complex mix of allergic conditions, she needed the guidance of an expert who lived and breathed all aspects of allergy care – and she found just that in our allergy educator, Kathy.

“It was the first time someone looked at the whole picture,” Lauren says. “When you’re in it, you’re just trying to put out little fires all the time, but Kathy helped me to take that step back and see what we could do.”  

“She lifted a weight off my shoulders and I hung up the phone thinking, ‘it’s going to be okay. I have a game plan now’.”  

When Lauren got off the phone, she finally felt reassured and ready to start solids with her new baby.  Kathy emailed resources from our website to help her every step of the way – information Lauren kept coming back to in the months that followed.  

Lauren’s story is a powerful reminder of the critical importance of access to evidence-based allergy information and support. Every year, our National Allergy Helpline responds to thousands of requests for help – but we can’t do it without you.  

As June 30 fast approaches, please consider a tax-deductible donation to help more parents like Lauren.  It’s only together that we can ensure people with allergies and their families don’t have to face this journey alone.  

Your donation can help provide: 

• One-on-one support from trained Allergy Educators through our National Allergy Helpline 

• Free tools and resources for families while they wait for specialist care 

• Trusted, evidence-based advice to manage allergies, eczema and other allergic conditions 

Please donate today to help us continue our free support service for families. Together, we can make sure people with allergies don’t have to face this journey alone.