Yesterday, as we marked three years to the day since Caudwell LymeCo officially became a charity, we met with Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Chris Whitty at the Department of Health and Social Care, to discuss their future plans for research into Lyme disease. and how we and our founder, John Caudwell can support these plans.

Lyme disease research on the horizon

We are thrilled to confirm that they have a specification for a research project into improving the diagnostic tests for Lyme disease, and that they are committed to conducting this research.

Due to their budgetary constraints and awaiting the announcement of the government’s budget next month, they aren’t able to inform us of the timelines for when the project would take place. However, we were told that a financial contribution from Mr Caudwell, together with donations made through our charity, may act as a catalyst to enable this research project to begin sooner. So, once the budget is announced, further discussions can take place on this.

Of course, if an agreement is made, every penny raised so far by our donors and fundraisers will go towards this research, and we now need to continue to raise more funds in order to support this project throughout its tenure, as well as the further research that will likely be required from its findings.

Galvanised into action

Mr Whitty kindly informed us that Mr Caudwell’s actions in campaigning for Lyme disease, together with the lobbying done by Caudwell LymeCo, did act as a catalyst to galvanise them into action on getting a research project together.

There is still work to do on confirming the terms of the project, and the outcomes of the research remains to be seen. However, we see these as really positive steps towards the future of Lyme disease research. We are thrilled to have played a part in helping to make this happen sooner rather than later, and to be able to deliver on our commitment to help Lyme disease sufferers here in the UK, and beyond.

We would like to say thank you to all of our donors, fundraisers and volunteers who have supported the charity in getting this far. We hope you are all pleased to hear about the progress that’s been made towards life-changing research.

We’ll keep you updated.

Want to get involved?

To make a donation towards Lyme disease research and help to make this project happen, please click here.