Paul Whittaker

Since then, I have continued to document CLEFT’s work in Bangladesh, Egypt and Kurdistan through video and photography. Additionally, my involvement with CLEFT has evolved over the last 5 years to include fundraising, attending regular trustee’s meetings, and online meetings with the team of clinicians in Bangladesh.

Having spent many weeks with patients and their parents, filming in local villages, hospitals and workshops alongside the local medical teams, I have developed a good understanding of some of the complex issues facing children born with clefts, especially in places where multi-disciplinary cleft care may be difficult to access.

I believe CLEFT’s focus on supporting and facilitating local medical teams to improve cleft care is highly important. These local teams undertake the vital work to ensure that long-term and sustainable cleft care is available to those who need it. I am honoured to be a part of supporting these efforts.

In addition to my involvement with CLEFT, I have worked extensively supporting refugees in Greece and vulnerable people in the UK. I have a BA in Film from Falmouth University and an MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies from SOAS University of London. I currently work in adult social services at Bristol City Council.

Latest

Rona, Richard, Jon and Simon ride 100 miles

Join us in raising funds for the CLEFT: Bridging the Gap! CLEFT has 2 great aims: to support sustainable and multidisciplinary cleft care in lower and middle income countries (surgery is important but only part of the journey), and to support research into the causes and provision of cleft care in the UK.
Zhi's Dublin Marathon Fundraiser

I am raising money to provide long-term, sustainable ways to improve cleft care both in the UK and overseas.
Nick and Kathleen's Wedding Fundraiser

We are raising money to provide long-term, sustainable ways to improve cleft care both in the UK and overseas.
The difference a Comprehensive Cleft and Craniofacial Centre can make

During his visit to Dhaka earlier this year, Mr Brian Sommerlad (Chair of CLEFT and Consultant Plastic Surgeon) saw a number of familiar faces in the clinic. Shahriah and Khadjiatul are two patients requiring a large number of operations and complex treatments throughout their lifetime.

Rowan Griffiths
Ghassan S. Abu-Sittah
Chloé Rolland

Consultant Orthodontist
Liz Grant
Chris Hill
Mahen Bulumulla

I am excited to support the work of CLEFT charity team, a charity close to my heart.
Kate Le Marechal

Dr Kate le Maréchal is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has worked as the Clinical Psychology Lead within the Evelina London Cleft Service since 2009.
David Orr, Consultant Plastic Surgeon

David Orr has been a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Our Lady's Children's Hospital and St James's Hospital, Dublin since 1998.
Triona Sweeney

Dr Triona Sweeney (BA, MSc, PhD) is a Cleft Specialist Speech & Language Therapist. She is a Founder and co-Director with Dr Debbie Sell of Speech at Home, an online therapy resource centre which aims to empower parents of children with cleft palate to deliver speech therapy at home under the supervision of a speech and language therapist.
Neil Brierley

I am currently working as a national TIG fellow in Cleft Lip and Palate surgery in the Northern and Yorkshire Cleft Lip & Palate service. I live in Leeds with my son.

Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery

We are working with Bangladeshi specialists at the new Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery to create a sustainable centre to treat children with cleft lip and palate.
Nawrin and the C-Arm

This important piece of equipment was supplied by CLEFT and is used to see moving images of the cleft palate. Nawrin is a 13 year old girl who was experiencing speech difficulties and needed the C-Arm to show the cleft team if further surgery was required.
Our mission

CLEFT was established in 2007 with one aim, to help improve the lives of children born with cleft lip and palate, either by funding research into the likely causes of the condition or by helping support teams in lower and middle income countries.
Donate

You can make a one-off donation today or sign up to giving a regular monthly gift. All donations, small or large, will help us to improve the lives of those born with cleft lip and palate both now and in the future. 100% of your donation today will go towards funding an international or research project thanks to a charitable trust covering all our administrative costs until February 2025.
About us

CLEFT was established in 2007 by cleft surgeon Brian Sommerlad - based at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, together with a former patient and a patient's grandmother.
The genetics of cleft lip and palate

Investigations into the genetics of cleft lip and palate to understand more about why cleft lip and palate occurs.
Brian Sommerlad, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Chair of Trustees

For over 40 years, I have been involved in operating on babies, children and adults who have been born with cleft lip and/or palate.
Our research vision

At CLEFT, our vision is of a future where clefts are preventable. Until we get there, we want to improve the lives of those born with cleft lip and palate.
Trusts and Foundations

Today, 1-in-700 babies in the UK are born with a cleft lip and palate, the most common form of birth defect. The impact on a child’s life as they grow is profound. Typically, they will need at least four operations. They may also require ongoing tests, treatment or therapy. It will affect the way they look but also their speech, hearing and dental development. It can leave deep psychological scars.
MRI Speech Assessment

This important research looked at using MRI to assess whether further surgery could improve speech for people with repaired clefts.