Coronavirus had a huge impact on our community, so a lot of our work focused on the risks of the virus for people with Crohn's and Colitis. In collaboration with the British Society of Gastroenterology and the IBD Registry, we helped develop a new website tool designed quickly to help people work out their personal risk level and whether they needed to shield. This tool also sent results back to healthcare teams.

Meanwhile, the CLARITY trial is now looking at the impact of COVID-19 when combined with certain medications, such as infliximab or vedolizumab. Researchers are also looking at what happens over the next 12 months as people with Crohn’s and Colitis have their coronavirus vaccines. 

The biggest insight  project we carried out during the pandemic was our Life in Lockdown survey. Nearly 8,000 of you took part, and told us what matters to you. The results helped us adapt the services we provide and guide conversations with healthcare providers to ensure that those with Crohn’s and Colitis weren’t forgotten.

One project we're really proud to support is Gut Reaction. This brings together health information from thousands of people living with Crohn's and Colitis, with data from the IBD Registry and the NHS. This joined-up health data creates an invaluable resource to support research into IBD, the aim is to find better treatments and help everyone living with Crohn's and Colitis live well with their condition. The biggest success of the project has been the involvement of our community. Rosanna, Joanne and Samantha are all determined to be able to use their information to benefit people in the future. 

Another major project that aims to improve the lives of people with Crohn's and Colitis is whether we can predict who will experience chronic pain. Professor Qasim Aziz and his team believe if they can better understand the risk factors for chronic pain, it can be managed better and maybe one day prevented completely. 

There are many more research projects now underway but all have the same goal; to improve the lives of people with Crohn's and Colitis right now and, ultimately, find a cure. These projects can only go ahead with the involvement of people with the conditions. Why don't you take part and help researchers improve existing treatments and health services?