Our Team

Our Executive Director and Founder Member, Claire Jackson, began our Charity in 1994 in memory of her friend Caraline Neville Lister who died from Anorexia Nervosa aged 29.

Since then, Claire has pioneered raising awareness of eating disorders. From humble beginnings, in her front room, Caraline has developed into a well-respected service supporting those living with an eating disorder along with their carers, friends, and other professionals supporting them.

She has spoken at many conferences and trained other professionals along the way. Her 28 years of experience in this area has given her a real depth of understanding and knowledge about eating disorders.

In 1995 the NHS recognised the benefits of the support Caraline was providing and commissioned us to provide a support service for the people of Luton and Bedfordshire. Since then, Caraline has continued to grow and develop, led by Claire’s commitment and passion. As a result, the Charity is now proud to be part of Bedford, Luton, and Milton Keynes (BLMK), offering support and treatment to people within this catchment area.

Caraline now employs 12 staff and offers Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Enhanced (CBT-e) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Ten (CBT-T) to our service users. They are all accredited members of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) or British Association of Behavioural Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) or working towards this.

All our therapists receive regular supervision and training to support them in their work. We are proud to include Professor Glenn Waller of Sheffield Hallam University, who developed CBT-T as a supervisor to our therapists.

Claire responded to the changes and challenges Caraline faced by the COVID-19 pandemic and lead her team through some rapid changes within our service. We successfully moved from face-to-face therapy to online therapy which has proved to be a positive experience for our service users and under her direction Caraline has continued to thrive as a leading service in the area of support for eating disorders.