Lyme Disease UK

23/08/2026

Heading off on a camping trip soon?

Whether you’re pitching the tent in a campsite, heading into the woods or exploring the countryside, spending more time outdoors means it’s important to think about tick bite prevention.

THEYE Mosquito Repellent repellents are effective against ticks, mosquitoes, horse-flies, gnats and midges, making them a useful addition to your camping kit. The range is DEET-free, plant-based and made in the UK, with products offering 6–8 hours of protection.

And as a Lyme Disease UK community member, you can get 15% off THEYE® products with code LYME-DISEASE-UK.

👉 Find out more and order here: https://lymediseaseuk.com/order-theyerepellent/

23/08/2026

⏰ Reminder! Don’t forget to enter Natalie's Prize Draw for your chance to win a signed copy of The Parent Carer.

🎁 5 copies to be won!

Entries close Monday 31 August.

https://lymediseaseuk.com/the-parent-carer-for-families-fighting-lyme/

🎥 Catch up on our latest LDUK Connect session with Natalie Hay

If you missed our recent LDUK Connect talk, you can now watch the recording on demand at https://lymediseaseuk.com/the-parent-carer-for-families-fighting-lyme/

Natalie Hay is a children's rights campaigner, education professional and parent carer advocate whose family experienced the challenges of Lyme disease first-hand. In this session, she shares practical advice, lived experience and support for parents and carers navigating diagnosis, education and advocacy.

📚 Natalie is also the author of The Parent Carer: A Survival and Advocacy Handbook for Raising Children with Additional Needs (available on Amazon). This empowering handbook for carers includes chapters on chronically ill children, the realities of the parent carer role, and practical guidance on accessing support and help - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1917623313

🎁 We’re delighted to partner with Natalie to offer 5 lucky winners a free signed copy of her invaluable book in a prize draw! Entry details can be found at https://open-doors-education-mxtkhb.subscribepage.io/

☀️ LDUK Connect is now taking a short summer break and will return in the autumn with more expert talks and community discussions. Until then, you can catch up on previous sessions and stay connected with the Lyme Disease UK community.

22/08/2026

A little reminder that LDUK Connect will be back this autumn!

In the meantime, if you missed any of our previous patient support sessions or would like to revisit one, you can catch up on all the recordings online fromhere - https://lymediseaseuk.com/lduk-connect-patient-support-sessions/

Previous sessions include:
• The Parent Carer: Support For Families Fighting Lyme — Natalie Hay
• Living with Lyme Disease: Strength, Awareness and Hope — Kristen Ellingson
• Working with Emotions and Physical Symptoms through the Power of EFT — Samantha Quemby
• Continue to Smile — Sarah Grace
• Breathing into Balance: Healing from Within — Becky Hughes
• Moving Forward with Disappointment — Leena Chatlani
• Mindset, Acceptance and Building Inner Strength — Harry Shelswell
• Tools, Hope and Healing in Lyme Disease — Dr Joseph Jemsek
• Journey with a Smile: Creating a Simple Strategy for a Positive Outlook — Sarah Grace
• Healing Your Way: How a Supportive Lifestyle can Help — Samantha Quemby
• Relax & Breathe: Ways to Calm Your Nervous System — Becky Hughes
• Emotional Awareness and Self-Compassion — Leena Chatlani
• Winter Wonders: Top Tips for Surviving the Season — Samantha Quemby

We’ll be sharing details of our autumn sessions soon. 💚

21/08/2026

There’s encouraging news from the US, where proposed legislation would provide $150 million over five years to support work on Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections.

The Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act has passed the US House of Representatives with unanimous bipartisan support and now awaits a final vote in the Senate.

The proposed funding would support surveillance, research, healthcare professional training and public health responses — including work through the CDC’s Centers of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases.

While this is US legislation, investment on this scale has the potential to contribute to a better understanding of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases globally, helping to advance research, diagnostics and patient care.

We’ll be watching this development closely and hope to see continued commitment to tackling these complex and often life-changing diseases.

👉 Read more about the proposed funding: https://lymediseaseuk.com/us-plans-150m-funding-to-fight-lyme-and-tick-borne-diseases/

20/08/2026

LDUK recently wrote to 965 political representatives nationwide to help raise Lyme disease awareness throughout local communities, and keep Lyme on the political agenda.

Our email and letter linked to comprehensive information for politicians, asking them to raise awareness with constituents, headteachers and leisure organisations, and promote the RCGP Lyme disease online course for GPs and practice nurses to local health leadership.

Thank you to everyone who reached out to their local representatives to support this campaign. Our thanks also to LDUK Patient Ambassador, Morven-May MacCallum MSP, who helped raise support at Holyrood.

Remember, your words are powerful - it's never too late to share your story with politicians!

Read more about our recent political outreach https://lymediseaseuk.com/lduk-rallies-politicians-to-raise-lyme-disease-awareness/

19/08/2026

Whether you’re walking, gardening, camping or exploring, this is the time of year when many of us are enjoying more time outside. Being prepared means having a tick removal tool to hand if you discover an attached tick.

Prompt, safe removal of an attached tick is important. Keeping a tick removal tool in your bag, car or first aid kit means you’re ready to act if you find one.
Tick Twister - tire-tique tools are designed to cradle the tick without squeezing its body. The tool can be gently twisted in either direction - clockwise or anti-clockwise, as ticks are not screw-threaded - to help release the tick’s mouthparts from the skin. The twisting action also helps to break the saliva ‘cement’ that some ticks use to attach themselves firmly.

Because the tool does not compress the tick’s body, it can help minimise the risk of back-flow of saliva and gut contents during removal.

We’re pleased to recommend Tick Twister® products and offer our supporters an exclusive charity discount at 💚

✨ LDUK25 - 25% off Tick Twister® and Smartick® products
✨ LDUK35 - 35% off orders of 100+ units, plus free next-day delivery

And there’s an added benefit: 25p from every purchase made using these codes is donated to Lyme Disease UK, helping us continue our work raising awareness and supporting our community.

👉 Find out more and order your tick removal tools: https://lymediseaseuk.com/order-tick-twister-tick-removal-tools/

18/08/2026

As organisations begin planning their charity partnerships for the year ahead, we’d love you to consider Lyme Disease UK.

By choosing us as your Charity of the Year 2027, your organisation can help us raise awareness of Lyme disease, support people affected by Lyme and tick-borne illnesses, and share vital information about prevention and tick awareness.

There are lots of ways to get involved — from fundraising challenges and workplace events to staff activities and awareness campaigns.

Whether you’re a small team or a large organisation, your support can make a real difference.

👉 Find out more about becoming a corporate fundraising partner: https://lymediseaseuk.com/corporate-fundraising/

If you’re currently choosing your Charity of the Year, we’d love to hear from you. 💚

17/08/2026

The countdown is officially on to the Great North Run on 13 September, and we couldn’t be more grateful to Niamh, Tia, Craig and Dom for taking on this incredible challenge to raise funds and awareness for Lyme Disease UK. Your support means so much to us and to the Lyme disease community.

If you’d like to support Team LDUK, you can donate to our runners here:
💚 Niamh: https://ajbellgreatnorthrun2026.enthuse.com/pf/niamh-bradley
💚 Craig: https://ajbellgreatnorthrun2026.enthuse.com/pf/craig-harris
💚 Dom: https://ajbellgreatnorthrun2026.enthuse.com/pf/dom-ranson
💚 Tia: https://ajbellgreatnorthrun2026.enthuse.com/pf/tia-race

Whether you donate, share their fundraising pages or simply cheer them on, thank you for supporting Team LDUK! 🙌

16/08/2026

Did you know there’s a national Tick Surveillance Scheme in the UK you can take part in?

It has been tracking ticks since 2005, helping the UK Health Security Agency understand their distribution, seasonal activity, and which species pose the greatest risk to humans and animals.

By sending in a tick you find on yourself, a pet, or wildlife, you’re helping:
• Monitor tick distribution and seasonality nationwide
• Identify the diversity of ticks affecting humans and animals
• Detect non-native or rare UK tick species
• Contribute to distribution maps that support research and public health assessments

All records are publicly available via the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) gateway, meaning your contribution helps scientists, vets, and health professionals better understand tick exposure trends over time.

📬 Getting involved is simple — submit a tick with details of where and when it was found and help protect people and animals across the UK.
Every tick you send is a step toward stronger awareness, safer communities, and better public health.

Learn more here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tick-surveillance-scheme

15/08/2026

We’re delighted to be partnering with Lowe Maintenance to help raise awareness of Lyme disease and the importance of being tick aware.

Lowe Maintenance provides training across forestry, arboriculture, land-based machinery, pesticides and other outdoor industries - so tick awareness is particularly important for the people they support.

We’re also pleased to be featured on Lowe Maintenance’s website alongside our friends at Stelr Pets, helping to put Lyme disease awareness in front of even more people who live and work outdoors.

A big thank you to the team at Lowe Maintenance for supporting Lyme Disease UK and helping us spread the message: be tick aware, check for ticks and know what to do if you’re bitten.

Find out more about our partnership with Lowe Maintenance here: https://lowe-maintenance.co.uk/about-lowe-maintenance/industry-partnerships/lyme-disease-uk-industry-partnership/