HEALTHY HERO
Meet Gail Crampton, a store advisor from Dudley
As told to David Kenning
Tell us about your role at Holland & Barrett…
I’ve been working part-time in the Merryhill branch for 14 years. I especially love talking to customers about menopause, mental health and gut health.
Why are those areas so important to you?
Personal experience. My 12-year-old daughter is one of the 8000 children in the UK with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). She was ill from the age of six, but didn’t get a diagnosis until she was 10. We nearly lost her and I don’t want anyone else to go through that. I’m now involved with a charity called CICRA (cicra.org). I’m training for a 5k run to raise money, and I’ve written a children’s book with illustrations by an artist from Devon – I just need someone to publish it! It’s about a hare who learns to share how he feels. A lot of children say they’re OK when they’re not. We should stop telling our children to be ‘brave’ and let them know it’s OK to say if they’re sad or unwell.