The Allergy UK Wellcome Home Bursary

Our aim

For Indoor Allergy Awareness Week 2024, Allergy UK has launched the ‘Wellcome Home’ bursary to provide air purifiers for households affected by indoor allergies. Our aim with the bursary is to support at least 100 households through this initiative in the first year.

Why is there a need?

A home is not a place of safety or refuge for someone living with an indoor allergy. Instead, their home can make them feel unwell, and the rigorous cleaning and allergen reduction regime required to make their home a healthier place to be, creates a heavy time and cost burden. Unlike other respiratory allergies, such as hay fever, the symptoms of an indoor allergy are not limited to specific seasons. The symptoms are felt all year round.

In fact, Allergy UK’s 2024 survey of people affected by indoor allergies reveals that 69% feel overwhelmed by the time and effort required to manage their allergy, with 72% of adults living with an indoor allergy saying it has impacted their mental health.

At Allergy UK, we believe everyone should have the right to breathe easy in their home.

Beyond the relentlessness of symptoms which contribute to sleep disturbance and poor mental health, up to 45% of households affected, have seen their day-to-day disposable income reduced as a result.

This is due to year-round medication costs, increased energy bills, changes to furniture and home furnishings to reduce their exposure to an allergen, and other modifications.

Air purifiers can help households in these circumstances, especially for those whose means may not extend to being able to invest in an air purifier.  An air purifier enables households to transform their indoor environment for the better.  However, often, one air purifier is insufficient as they tend to be more effective in reducing exposure to allergens in a home when there is one in each room which harbours an allergen.

Air purifiers are scientifically proven to reduce the presence of mould spores and other indoor allergen particles in the air, in conjunction with other allergen exposure methods, air purifiers can help to provide relief from symptoms.