Ceri first became involved as a health services user representative in 2006 when she was pregnant with her first child. She quickly realised that if she was finding it virtually impossible to navigate local maternity services, others in her local community (Tower Hamlets, one of the most diverse and deprived London boroughs) with lower levels of literacy, English and confidence borne out a professional City career, must be finding it even harder. This led to her becoming involved with many PPI and related initiatives, becoming a trustee of a maternity service users’ charity and through this contributing to NICE guidance consultations, maternity transformation reviews and similar activities. Following a change in career to pursue her passion for health services which truly meet the needs of all, Ceri now leads Social Action for Health. The organisation’s mission to support people most affected by health inequalities to build the skills and confidence to make informed decisions for themselves, their families and their communities.

Social Action for Health (SAfH) are a community-based, health charity with over 30 years’ experience of working with the ethnically diverse and socioeconomically deprived population of east London. SAfH work with these diverse communities to empower people to improve their lives, with a major focus on health promotion and tackling inequalities. SAfH deliver NHS commissioned health programmes related to health and wellbeing, such as “Change for Good”, and focusing on communities who are under-served by existing services. SAfH also have a longstanding partnership with QMUL supporting community-focused research and public and patient involvement activities focusing on local health priorities such as chronic disease and multimorbidity