The CellWell Alliance
Knowledge Is Medicine.
We’re Here to Give It Back to You.
The CellWell Alliance Social Enterprise exists to close a gap that should never have existed. Nutritional support is almost entirely absent from NHS Sickle Cell care pathways - and the communities who need it most have been left without a culturally competent, trusted provider to turn to. Until now.
Where Clinical Evidence Meets Lived Experience
Nutritional Education
Evidence-based, clinically informed online courses designed specifically for people living with Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD) and related chronic conditions. Practical, empowering and accessible, wherever you are in the world.
Community Programmes
Free and low-cost workshops, peer support groups, and community wellness events rooted in the lived experience of the SCD community. We show up where our community is.
Professional Training & Consultancy
Culturally responsive Sickle Cell and chronic illness training for healthcare professionals, educators, community workers, and corporate organisations. We help teams serve this community better.
The Gap We're Closing
Sickle Cell Disorder is the most common inherited blood condition in the United Kingdom. It disproportionately affects people of African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and South Asian heritage - communities that are already systemically underserved by mainstream health services. The NHS cannot currently provide the nutritional support this community needs. We can.
17,000+
People in the UK are living with Sickle Cell Disorder
300,000+
People in the UK carry the Sickle Cell trait
43,000
SCD-related emergency hospital admissions every year costing the NHS over £16 million annually
0
Nationally recognised nutritional education providers specifically serving this community — until The CellWell Alliance.
Who We Are
The CellWell Alliance Social Enterprise was not built in a boardroom. It was built through decades of living with Sickle Cell Disorder - through hospital admissions, through crises, through the slow and determined process of learning how to reclaim health on our own terms. We are a Social Enterprise founded and led by people who do not speak about this condition from a distance. We live it. We have always lived it. And we have built our expertise, our clinical training, and our unshakeable determination to serve this community from the inside out.
Our Values in Practice
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Empowerment over dependency — we share knowledge so completely that individuals and families become the primary authority over their own health.
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Cultural relevance and humility — health cannot be separated from culture, identity, and lived experience.
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Evidence and integrity — everything we teach is clinically informed, rigorously sourced, and honestly communicated.
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Community and solidarity — we build networks of trust and peer support so that no one faces chronic illness in isolation.
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Equity and advocacy — we actively challenge the health inequalities that have left our community behind.
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Dignity and respect — every person who comes to us is treated with complete compassion and care.
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Sustainability and accountability — We measure our success through the real, lasting improvements to health outcomes that our work makes possible.
Our Legal Structure
The CellWell Alliance is a Social Enterprise. We are applying for CIC status — a legal structure designed specifically for organisations whose work is directed at community benefit rather than private profit. We will operate with an asset lock as our resources exist to serve the Sickle Cell and chronic illness community, not shareholders. This structure makes us a trusted, accountable partner for NHS Trusts, Local Authorities, grant bodies, and corporate Environmental Social Governance programmes.
Jael A. Israel — Founder & Director
Jael is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist (College of Naturopathic Medicine, London), Complementary Therapist (ITEC), Vegan Chef (Demuths), and former Secondary School Teacher (PGCE).
She lives with Sickle Cell Disorder, alongside osteoarthritis and neuropathy, and has managed daily chronic pain for over 15 years. That experience is not theoretical. It has shaped how she works, what she prioritises, and the standard of care she delivers. After winning an Employment Tribunal for disability discrimination, she retrained and went on to build The CellWell Alliance to fill a gap she had experienced first-hand.
Jael brings clinical rigour, pedagogical expertise and irreplaceable lived credibility to every course and consultation she delivers. Her qualifications are matched only by her personal authority: she knows this condition, and she knows this community.
Professional memberships: ANP (Association of Naturopathic Practitioners) | CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council).
Timi Afanu — Co-Director & Course Zero Lead
Timi brings a dual perspective that is rare and invaluable: lived experience of Sickle Cell Disorder spanning both the United Kingdom and West Africa, alongside a professional background as an IT Engineer in broadcasting.
He navigated years of debilitating foot ulcers and a decade of exchange blood transfusions and came out the other side not as a passive recipient of care, but as someone who has taken profound, self-directed authority over his own health.
As Co-Director and Lead Facilitator of Course Zero, Timi’s journey is not background detail. It is the curriculum itself and his presence as facilitator is its most powerful proof of concept.
Trusted Partners in Health, Education & Community
The CellWell Alliance works with a growing range of statutory, voluntary, and corporate partners to commission, fund, and deliver Sickle Cell and chronic illness education where it’s needed most.
We are the right partner for:
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NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups seeking preventative, community-embedded health education aligned to long-term care plan priorities
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Local Authorities and public health teams investing in health equity and reducing emergency admissions in high-need communities
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Sickle Cell and chronic illness charities looking for trusted referral partners and co-produced educational resources
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Schools, colleges, and universities seeking culturally responsive health and wellbeing training for staff and students
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Corporate organisations with a commitment to employee wellbeing, racial health equity, and ESG-aligned community investment
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Grant and funding bodies supporting early-stage social enterprises with proven community impact