MasterChef champion Jane Devonshire announced as charity ambassador
Coeliac UK has announced Jane Devonshire, champion of MasterChef 2016, as its new ambassador who will spearhead the national charity’s 2020 campaign to help find thousands of children living with undiagnosed coeliac disease.
Jane’s youngest son Ben was diagnosed with coeliac disease when he was just two years old. She said: “I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to be an ambassador for Coeliac UK because raising awareness of coeliac disease especially for children, is a cause close to my heart. I’ve seen first-hand the diff erence that early diagnosis can make and I want to help the charity reach more parents and carers who might be struggling and searching, sometimes for many years, to find answers to their child’s ill health.”
Average time to diagnosis is 13 years, which Coeliac UK wants to change. If left untreated, coeliac disease can lead to a number of serious complications later in life, including: anaemia, osteoporosis, unexplained infertility, neurological conditions such as gluten ataxia and neuropathy and, although rare, there is an increased risk of small bowel cancer and intestinal lymphoma.