Carol's daughter developed Alopecia Areata when she was eight years old.

Carol set about raising funds to help towards researching the condition and donated these to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh's dermatology department.

Doctor Aldridge, the consultant who was treating her daughter, suggested that she use some of the funds to set up a support group for people with the condition.

He put her in touch with Rosemary.

Eleanor is the third Director of the charity. Eleanor got involved when she went along to the Glasgow meetings and wanted to give something back for all the help she received there.

She first had alopecia when she was 14 (1963) back then there was no help or medical advice. Her hair grew back within 6 months and was forgotten about until the year 2000 when she lost all her hair. She was offered various treatments from the hospital but found the help and advice from the group more supportive. Her biggest concern was loosing her eyelashes but they have started to come back in the the last year.

Rosemary's daughter had been attending Dr Aldridge's clinic since she was four years old.

Rosemary had tried to find out more about Alopecia Areata and felt frustrated by the lack of information or advice available.

She and Carol met and agreed to set up the charity because they had felt so helpless when their daughters had been diagnosed and didn't want other people to be in this position.

On the advice of a lawyer, they set up the company and registered it as a charity.

Megan Mowbray is delighted to take over from Dr Olivia Schofield as the
medical adviser to AHAS.

Having completed her specialist training at the Royal Infirmary of
Edinburgh she now works as a Consultant Dermatologist for NHS Fife. For
the past 5 years she has had a particular interest in diseases of the
hair. Since commencing work in NHS Fife in May 2009 she now see’s all
patients referred to our department with hair disorders. She hopes to
develop the service in NHS Fife such that we can offer a dedicated hair
clinic with treatment support.

When suffering from a hair disease good medical support is important, in
addition support from other sources is also vital. She have observed the
hard work that members of AHAS have put in over the past few years and
is very happy to be able to be a part of this. As a member of the
European Hair Research Society and the recently formed UK Hair interest
group, she hopes to be able to keep members informed about advances in
hair diseases from a medical perspective. She is looking forward to
acting as medical adviser for AHAS.