Clinically Vulnerable Families is powered by volunteers: experts, people with lived experience and advocates across the UK.
Directors
Who leads CVF
Founder, CEO & Director
Lara Wong
Lara Wong founded Clinically Vulnerable Families in August 2020 and leads it as Founder and CEO.
Founder, CEO & Director
Lara Wong
Lara Wong founded Clinically Vulnerable Families in August 2020 and leads it as Founder and CEO. A former science teacher, she has built it from a peer-support community into a national voice for Clinically Vulnerable people, turning their experiences into evidence that changes policy.
Lara led CVF’s successful bid for Core Participant status in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and gave oral evidence, masked, in three of its modules. Her work has helped change Electoral Commission guidance to recognise Clinically Vulnerable voters, and Department for Education statutory guidance on clean air in schools and on attendance rewards for children with health conditions. A NICE stakeholder since its first appraisal of Evusheld, she chairs the Access Association’s first committee on indoor air quality, and brought together the expert, insight and volunteer teams behind CVF’s work.
Director
Sarah Steven
Sarah Steven is a director, media spokesperson and bookkeeper of Clinically Vulnerable Families, and led its volunteer team monitoring the UK Covid-19 Inquiry hearings.
Director
Sarah Steven
Sarah Steven is a director, media spokesperson and bookkeeper of Clinically Vulnerable Families, and led its volunteer team monitoring the UK Covid-19 Inquiry hearings. A cancer patient who was Clinically Extremely Vulnerable through the height of the pandemic, she won the argument for air filtration in her hospital’s chemotherapy unit while she was undergoing treatment. She was previously an actress for over twenty years.
Expert team
The experts behind our work
Scientists, clinicians and specialists who give their time to advise us and check the evidence behind our work.
Medical lead & Deputy leader of the online support community
Dr Cathy Finnis
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers
Amos Waldman
Court of Protection and human rights law
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers
Amos Waldman
Court of Protection and human rights law
Amos Waldman is a barrister based at Doughty Street Chambers, specialising in the Court of Protection and human rights. He sadly lost his grandmother, who died from Covid-19 in a care home in 2020. He is also the chair of the Dan Kay Foundation and a trustee at Brookvale Care.
Find out more about Amos Waldman
Immunologist, University of Manchester
Prof Sheena Cruickshank
Vaccination and immunological responses to infection
Immunologist, University of Manchester
Prof Sheena Cruickshank
Vaccination and immunological responses to infection
Sheena Cruickshank is an immunologist and science communicator who researches chronic inflammation and the body’s immune responses to the microbiome and threats from infection, toxins and injury.
Find out more about Prof Sheena Cruickshank
University of Leeds
Prof Stephen Griffin
Virology, SARS-CoV-2 and antivirals
University of Bath
Dr Adam Squires
Airborne transmission, ventilation and air filtration
University of Bath
Dr Adam Squires
Airborne transmission, ventilation and air filtration
Adam is a physical chemist and aerosol scientist at the University of Bath. His research and public engagement work include respiratory droplets, how they spread airborne diseases, and how masks, ventilation and air cleaning can help reduce this spread.
Find out more about Dr Adam Squires
University of Cambridge
Dr Emma Weisblatt
Child psychiatry and neuropsychiatry
Dr Jax Tait
Science teacher
Karam Bales
Hazards Campaign
Janet Newsham
Workplace health and safety
…and other members who prefer not to be named.
Insight team
People behind our insight
Our Insight team brings together lived experience, research and professional expertise to help shape CVF’s evidence. As well as the experts above, its members include:
Founder and Director, Bath Novel Awards
Caroline Ambrose
Professional manuscript reader and parent
Shannon Banks
Founder, Be Leadership
Shannon Banks
Founder, Be Leadership
Diagnosed with lupus at age 12, Shannon Banks is an advocate for Clinically Vulnerable and immunocompromised people and their families. She has spoken publicly and worked with the media to campaign for better access to Covid-19 treatments and protections, including Evusheld. Alongside her advocacy, Shannon is the founder of Be Leadership, a leadership development consultancy, and is passionate about creating a more inclusive society in which Clinically Vulnerable people can participate fully and safely.
Chris Brown
Noni Jenkyn Jones
Parent and teacher (DT and Art)
Noni Jenkyn Jones
Parent and teacher (DT and Art)
Noni Jenkyn Jones became involved in CVF’s work as a result of seeing first hand the failure of schools to learn the clean air and infection reduction lessons of the pandemic. She has a background in dance and arts education and postgraduate qualifications in both teaching and health studies.
T Oak
Gillian Smith
Social research and evaluation
Gillian Smith
Social research and evaluation
Gillian is a long-standing member of the CVF community and lives with a life-limiting illness. She is a former UK government social researcher who held a number of senior posts in Whitehall, including Head of Social Research and Evaluation at the Department for Transport.
Read Gillian’s blog, Living on Plague Island
Keith Webley
Retired IT consultant
Keith Webley
Retired IT consultant
Keith is a retired IT consultant who helped with data analysis of the evidence during the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. He also helped with video clipping.
Sarah Webley
Sarah Webley
Sarah is Clinically Vulnerable and has enjoyed helping in the background.
S Wildgoose
Scottish team lead
…and other members who prefer not to be named.
People with lived experience.
Experts who give their time.
Advocates across the UK.
National teams
Across the UK
Our national teams make sure clinically vulnerable people in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are heard.
Scotland
Team lead
S Wildgoose
Northern Ireland
Team lead & Young Voices Lead
Seren Stewart
Wales
Team lead
Dr Sharon Leighton
Thank you
Behind everything we do are people who give their time.
Everything CVF does is built on many hours of volunteering. To everyone on our Clip, Feedback, Insight, Expert and national teams: thank you for your hard work.