News & Events
COPD Awareness Day - Wednesday 19th November 2025
This COPD Awareness Day we’re delighted to share a new article written for us by Rosie Buckley, a freelance writer and active volunteer within our community. Read Rosie’s article below:
Supporting Someone with COPD: Your Guide for November Awareness Month
COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which is a term for a group of long-term lung conditions, such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, that cause breathing problems. November is COPD Awareness Month, and this year’s theme is ‘Short of Breath, Think COPD’. This theme aims to raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis, as misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis are far too common. Raising awareness this month is important, and is also a chance to learn more about the condition and what people can do to care for their loved ones with COPD. Let’s look at this in more detail.
Provide Emotional Support
COPD can affect your loved one emotionally. Living with the physical symptoms can be emotionally draining and sometimes frightening, which can cause feelings of depression and anxiety. Offering emotional support can be a big help.
● Be there to listen: Letting your emotions weigh you down can start to feel like a burden. Allow your loved one to share how they’re feeling without judgment or interrupting.
● Encourage social connection: Having a strong social circle of friends and family supports well-being, so encourage your loved one to keep in contact with people they’re close to. If they’d find it useful, they could join a COPD support group to hear from others with similar experiences.
● Help them seek professional support: In some cases, talking to a professional, such as a therapist, can help them understand and navigate their emotions.
Offer Practical Support
The physical symptoms of COPD can make carrying out everyday tasks difficult at times. When offering practical support, don’t assume they need help; always ask. Here are some examples that could be useful:
● Help with daily tasks: Whether it’s making meals, doing house chores, or helping with personal care, ask what would be most useful.
● Attend appointments with them: Ask whether they’d like a lift or would like you to attend for support and company.
● Assist with their treatment: Understanding your loved one's treatment and medication means you can provide assistance where necessary. For example, knowing how and when medication is taken means you can give gentle reminders to take it. Picking up prescriptions for them can also be helpful.
Adjust The Home Environment
Small changes around the home can improve air quality, making the environment safer for someone with COPD. Here are some suggestions:
● Don’t smoke or vape in the house
● Keep the environment dust-free
● Avoid using strong cleaning products or aerosols
● Make sure the humidity in the home is under 50% to prevent mould and dust mites
● Keep the home well ventilated, particularly in the kitchen.
Promote Healthy Habits
As well as making changes in the home, lifestyle adjustments can make a difference too. This can involve:
● Quitting smoking: They may be hesitant because quitting smoking isn’t easy, but doing so can slow down the progression of COPD and improve symptoms.
● Keep active: It’s important that your loved one listens to their body and doesn’t push themselves too far. Talking to their GP can help them make informed decisions about exercise.
● Maintain a balanced diet: Being overweight can make breathlessness worse, and being underweight can lead to weakened immunity. Eating a balanced diet provides nutrition and helps people with COPD maintain a healthy weight.
Get Involved in COPD Awareness Month
November is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness and educate others about the importance of an early diagnosis.
● Use social media: Share information and personal stories to educate using the hashtag #WorldCOPDDay.
● Get involved in campaigns: There are many of these, such as Speak Up For COPD.
● Wear orange: A traditional way to show support for COPD Awareness Month is to wear orange.
Aspergillosis Trust
We’re a charity dedicated to raising awareness and providing support for people living with aspergillosis. Visit our website to learn how you can get involved.
School Campaign: Dad and the Sneaky Spores
Last week we were thrilled to take our new children’s book into two schools, where we reached approximately 150 pupils.
The sessions combined storytelling and health education - reading Dad and the Sneaky Spores, discussing lung health, aspergillosis, and simple ways to look after our lungs.
We were joined by illustrator Ursula Hurst, who delivered a fantastic masterclass on character creation, sharing how she developed Asper and teaching the children how to draw him.
Our campaign doesn’t stop here. We are continuing to take the book into more school, raising awareness of lung health and aspergillosis from an early age, and blending creativity with important health messages.
Thank you to the schools for their enthusiasm and support - and to the children for their curiosity and imagination!
Rain Couldn’t Stop Us: A Wonderful Day at Our Book Launch Event at Affinity Lancashire Outlet Village
Despite battling with some unpredictable weather, spirits were high and hearts were full at our book launch event on Saturday, 13th September, held at Affinity Lancashire Outlet Village. Nothing—not even the rain—could dampen the enthusiasm and community spirit that defined this incredible day.
The event marked the official launch of Dad and the Sneaky Spores, a heartwarming and informative children’s book designed to help families explain aspergillosis and lung health to young minds in a way that is gentle, clear, and hopeful. This important milestone brought together supporters from across the UK, united in our mission to raise awareness and offer support to those affected by lung conditions and mould-related illnesses.
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who came along—whether you helped out behind the scenes or simply stopped by to say hello, ask questions, or learn more. Your presence made the day truly special.
🌟 Special Thanks to Our Supporters
A huge thank you to the Johnston family, who made the incredible journey all the way from Belfast to be with us. We were also thrilled to welcome Alison and Bill from London, Sarah and Paul, and Syd and Beth from Manchester, who brought warmth and wisdom to the day.
We are especially grateful to David Bailey from Blackpool Damp Proofing, who generously gave his time and expertise to speak with people about mould issues in their homes—an issue deeply connected to lung health and a growing concern for many in our community.
✍️ A Star Appearance from Christina Gabbitas
An extra special thank you goes to Christina Gabbitas, the brilliant author of Dad and the Sneaky Spores. Christina not only joined us for the event, but also spent time signing countless copies of the book, chatting with families, and helping children understand the story and its important message. Her passion and creativity helped turn a grey day into something truly bright and beautiful.
💛 Why This Book Matters
Dad and the Sneaky Spores isn’t just a book—it’s a lifeline for families navigating the challenges of aspergillosis. It offers a gentle, positive way to explain complex medical conditions to children, helping them feel informed, empowered, and less alone. By sparking conversations and encouraging understanding, the book plays a vital role in improving awareness around lung health and mould-related illnesses.
This event reminded us all that even in the face of adversity—be it illness or the weather—community, compassion, and shared purpose can shine through. Thank you again to everyone who helped make this launch a success.
Stay connected, keep talking about aspergillosis and lung health, and let’s continue working together to ensure every family has the resources and support they need.
World Aspergillosis Day February 3rd 2025
This year we will once again be using social media to raise awareness of aspergillosis. Here are some of this years campaign assets. If you are interested in getting involved please email us at lisa@aspergillosistrust.org
We are Recruiting
Aspergillosis is a rare debilitating and sometimes deadly infection. The Aspergillosis Trust is a patient-led group, committed to working with anyone who has an interest in supporting our work or learning from our experiences.
Our vision is to contribute towards finding the best treatments, and ultimately a cure, for all forms of Aspergillosis. In order to achieve this, we aim to provide a range of information and support to new and existing patients as well as using our knowledge and experience to inform, and on occasions fund, research into new or existing treatments.
We are a passionate small group of volunteer trustees and want like minded enthusiasts to join us particularly if you have experience of either working within the charity sector or being involved with patient advocacy work, however these are not essential. Depending on your experience and availability you will be asked to attend a minimum of 4 trustee meetings a year. You will be expected alongside your co-trustees to decide what will best enable the charity to meet its aims. You may also be asked to represent Aspergillosis Trust at conferences, webinars and working on projects.
We are a patient led charity and therefore we are seeking people who have experience of this disease, whether as a patient, a health professional or family or friend of someone affected by the condition.
If you are interested in getting involved in any way please get in touch with us and we can have a chat.
Best Wishes
Lisa McNeil
Chair
Aspergillosis Trust
On the 7th June Aspergillosis Trust became a Charity.
Charity Commission No 1194699
Aspergillosis Trust are World Lung Day partners with the Forum of International Respiratory Societies which will be held on 25th September 2020
Aspergillosis Trust will be exhibiting a poster at the ELF Patient Organisation Day on the 5th September 2020.
This is part of the ERS Congress which this year will be virtual because of Covid 19.
Jennifer Shelton will be presenting a poster on her PhD research at Stem for Britain.
This will be held at the House of Commons on 9th March and coincides with British Science Week 2020. She will be handing out Aspergillosis Trust Patient Information Leaflets.
In collaboration with Medics 4 Rare Diseases (M4RD), BL Rare Disease Spotlight will be hosting Fran Pearson, a patient who was diagnosed with Aspergillosis and Dr Darius Armstrong-James, a consultant in Infectious Disease and Mycology on the 3rd of February.
You will have the opportunity to learn more about the patient's experience of being diagnosed with a rare infectious disease and the challenges faced by doctors when diagnosing patients with infectious diseases.
Medics 4 Rare Diseases (M4RD) is a charity founded by a Barts alum - come along to hear more from Dr Lucy McKay about this!
Watch the video at https://www.facebook.com/BLIDSoc/videos/613592952798238/?hc_location=ufi for the talk with Fran. The link for the clinical talk for students is https://www.facebook.com/BLIDSoc/videos/534083584132833/
Jennifer Shelton has a stand at Imperial Lates on 12th November.
She will give a talk about fungal pathogens and her Citizen Science Projects as well as aspergillosis. She will be displaying some Aspergillosis Trust posters as well as leaflets.
On the 8th October AT were at The Manchester Rare Disease Showcase with the National Aspergillosis Centre.
We were represented at RAREsummit19 on 23rd September.
It is being run by Cambridge Rare Disease Network and the theme is Patients as Partners. A poster has been made with the help of the National Aspergillosis Centre and there will also be our own poster, leaflets, as well as awareness items and patient stories. This was our first conference/meeting.
