This year we made the trip to the London Allergy Show on the Sunday. We managed to leave on time, walked super fast to the station to find we were 5 mins early. The train was nice and quiet, apart from MyItchyBoy narrating the journey with his head glued to the window (not literally, you understand). We even managed to get to Olympia early and had to queue. Luckily the queue was not too long and we were soon inside.
As per last year it was great to see MyItchyBoy being able to try things and freely eat stuff that he usually has to pass on. It was great to see so many children enjoying themselves around the show as well as taking ownership of their allergies. I felt buoyed by the confidence of the children around me asking the exhibitors directly if their product contained a particular allergen.
This year we asked my sister to come along with us. This was a strategic move knowing that an extra pair of hands would be really, well, handy. It turned out to be a good plan as Husband was quickly laden down carrying bags of goodies and MyItchyBoy still needs a hand held and general steering in the right direction so he doesn’t get lost or eat something he shouldn’t. My sister ended up buying herself a few things too as she is a vegetarian, like s healthy options and has bouts of eczema. Many free from foods are quite natural or just different and interesting so she had a good time finding out about new products as well as finding out about natural skincare ranges.
We enjoyed 3-4 hours at the show in total which was longer than I expected. We were pleased that it wasn’t too busy the whole time we were there and there was not a single queue in any toilets, not too many people had run out of stock or samples and there were nice areas of space and calm.I was a bit disappointed with the skin zone myself. I think I was expecting a bigger section and more clearly defined. However, we met some great people and found some new products.
It was also a shame that were was not a bit of seating in places for people to just stop and have a snack or lunch. We managed to find a step near the entrance to pop MyItchyBoy on to feed him some sandwiches before he started bouncing off the walls with the amount of sweets, chocolate and cake he had consumed. The rest of us just stood or sat on the floor.
Overall, it was a great show and lived up to and surpassed MyItchyBoy’s memory of last year*. We’ll be enjoying our treats for a good few weeks (if we pace ourselves) and adding new things to our shopping list from now on.
Big thanks to the Allergy Show for organising and improving this event and we look forward to it again next year.
*Obviously, the train journey will get the most air time when he talks about Sunday to anyone else. But, not even chocolate can compete with a trip involving a train and a tube.
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