About Naomi: 

Naomi is Alopecia UK's Events Manager. She joined the AUK staff team in February 2018. Naomi lives in West Yorkshire and is a big fan of travelling, the theatre, cooking and animals. You can read about her alopecia story here. Naomi is currently on maternity leave.

Naomi's background:

Before working for Alopecia UK Naomi worked in childcare and was a Drama teacher for the acting school Stagecoach. Naomi’s University degree in Drama, alongside her teaching at various afterschool drama clubs, led to a love of confidence and capacity building in young people.

Naomi at Alopecia UK:

Naomi mainly works in the Support aim of the charity. She often covers the day-to-day support enquiries that come into the charity via telephone, email and social media accounts. She organises the online children’s and young person's meetings and helps in the facilitation of the Adult's meetings. Naomi set up and continues to run the Youth Voice Board. She also works on the organisation and running of Alopecia UK’s events such as Alton Towers and the Residential weekends. Naomi also manages the Alopecia UK Service Directory.

Naomi’s key achievements whilst working at Alopecia UK include the organisation of our new residential camps for children and the introduction of the charity's podcast.

Why Alopecia UK?

"When I first developed alopecia, I felt incredibly alone and isolated, like I was the only one going through this. When I found Alopecia UK's website I instantly felt a sense of relief. I saw that they hosted meetings not too far from me but felt very nervous at the thought of attending something like that face to face. I realised other people must feel like that too and so I began using the online forums. These spaces gave me the opportunity to access that peer support in a way I felt comfortable with and I could see that what the charity was offering was incredibly unique and powerful.

Having met Amy and Jen in late 2016 I expressed my keen interest in a job with the charity should the occasion ever arise. I kept in contact with them whilst I had a career break to go travelling, updating them along the way with the ups and downs of travelling with alopecia. To my delight, after interviewing for the Charity Administrator job, I was offered the opportunity to join the team and couldn’t think of a better reason to head back home! I felt excited at the prospect of helping others to not feel so alone and scared as I did in those early days. I loved that I was able to turn this difficult experience into something positive!"

Naomi's favourite inspirational quote:

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you. (Walt Whitman)

Reviewed by Alopecia UK on 25/03/2024