Welcome to our world of living with allergies
Welcome to our world of living with allergies
Welcome to ActAllergy
Our Approach
Welcome to ActAllergy and our world of living with allergies.
Catherine Hobson has lived with life-threatening food allergies, asthma and hay-fever since infancy and is now sharing her wisdom with other people with these challenges. Following a career in charities, she is a published author, public speaker and keen to share the positives of life with allergies.
Carl Smith has a career which has spanned retail, food service development, disability access and charity leadership. Carl is also a non-Executive Director. Carl has a real desire to help people live life to the full. Just as he does!
Together, Catherine and Carl have created ActAllergy. A safe place for individuals to access real-life support, for food operators to deliver a better dining experience for their customers and for all our communities to learn more about living with allergies and keeping people safe.
Take a look at our services, help to spread the word and please get in touch if you want to chat anything allergies.
We are based in Lincolnshire, UK and we love to travel.
'Take Away the Fear. A guide to living with life-threatening allergies' Available now on Amazon.co.uk & in selected independent bookshops
Drawing on Catherine's own experiences of living with life-threatening food allergies, this book shares practical, real-world tips for how to navigate daily life, from birth to adulthood, safely and without anxiety.
"I've always felt so alone with my allergy, but this book has shown me I'm not." Suzy Burton, nut allergy sufferer.
This book is your go-to if you are living with allergies, someone you love is, a colleague or a friend. Find ways to help them, emotionally and practically.
If you are working in the food industry Catherine shares her insights of dining out - and the very mixed experiences she has received. Catherine shows you that there is a way to live a full life with severe allergies and this book will help you to do just that.
Read the book and get in touch, we'd love to help!
Health Coaching with Catherine
ActAllergy has listened to families who are trying to manage their daily living with allergies and health coaching is an accessible and positive way to do this. Catherine has been through many of life's transitions and can help to empower you, whatever stage of life you are at with allergies.
As a parent, friend or the one with the allergies, Catherine is highly empathetic and can help you with the challenges that food allergies bring to our 21st Century lifestyle. This includes support when a frightening allergy incident has occurred. We don't plan for them but they are highly impactful and can be a traumatic event when they do happen.
Catherine can see you virtually or in person and will help you to manage your long-term condition in an active way. Drawing out your own resources and resilience and together developing an action plan to keep you safe.
Catherine will shortly complete her Level 3 Certificate in Health Coaching with the Royal Society for Public Health.
About ActAllergy
Working with the food industry
Carl has worked with the world's largest facilities and food providers, with many of the big brands, and has a passion for food inclusion. He's worked with chefs in hospitals developing healthy specialist diets and food offers for consultants, staff, patients and visitors. Carl has developed retail outlets in private, charity and public spaces. He also knows that these are commercial offers that need to make a profit.
With a retail background with household names, Carl has a keen eye on the customer journey and, as Catherine's partner, has experienced some brilliant and some horrifyingly poor dining experiences whilst eating out, home and abroad. Whether you run a deli, cafe, restaurant or a chain, we can help you with becoming a first class operator working with knowledge of the 14 allergens and 1st hand experience of allergies.
Enhancing your diners' experience
"Having worked with ActAllergy, I've been reminded to take pride in my food and that reassuring my patrons is the most important part of my job".
Muj Miah, restaurateur Malabon, Hampshire UK
Eating out is a huge part of our lifestyle and we all want to be included in celebrations and occasions around food but, when you have an allergy we know this can be stressful for you. It's also stressful for those serving you when they are alerted to your allergy. We work with the food industry to empower and inform them to do better for diners with allergies. To have accurate information to hand, to be treated as well as others and to have a great time around food. You may even get a 5 star review for your efforts.
Get in touch if you are ambitious to offer the best in your food establishment - big or small, we can help to take away the fear for you too.
Working together
We love to collaborate with individuals, businesses, charities and the food industry in all its' guises. Keeping people with allergies safe at work, home and when eating out is an all absorbing task and we can't do it without the co-operation of others. If you are passionate about food for all, providing the best for your customers, an expert in nutrition, aim to be the top boss at work or you are newly diagnosed with food allergies, we'd love to hear from you.
Thanks to Natural Aspect for the fabulous photography.
Thanks to Paragon Style for the slick logo design work.
Actallergy - the business bit
HTC Consultancy Ltd was established in 2017 by joint directors Catherine Hobson and Carl Smith. Since its' inception the company has worked with numerous charities, CIOs, businesses and start ups. Now, in 2024 we are welcome people into our world of living with allergies and ActAllergy is born.
HTC Consultancy Ltd is a private company, limited by shares, incorporated in England & Wales, registered no. 10399697.
Registered office is Heatherstone House, 26 High Street, Caistor, Market Rasen LN7 6QF
