Rest in peace Kellie
As a team we wanted to pay huge tribute to Kellie Hart, who as a Pathway lived experience volunteer, was hugely involved in steering the updated IMPROVE programme, and appears in 9 of the new IMPROVE films, always at the beginning of these films.
We were very sad to hear that Kellie died on Christmas Day 2025 aged 42. She had several very complex health issues.
When we asked Kellie to join the project, she had very complex health needs that put her at risk of dying. Kellie was very keen to get involved in the project and we thought she would have very important things to say. She indeed did. Kellie really wanted all people to be treated fairly, not to be judged or discriminated against, and to receive proper care – her desire to help change care for the better always shone out of her.
Kellie’s role on the project included sharing what she thought all practitioners needed to know about supporting people with lived experience of homelessness. She was also filmed for 9 of the short films included in IMPROVE Community of Practice programme. She starts all the films she is in, because what she shared is so impactful, and important, and we thought it would really help frame the whole programme.
We are so sad that she has died now, and she will not see the programme complete. However we spent time with her showing her the films and the programme, and we know she thought they could make a big difference to how people are treated, and the access to care people will get, both now and in the future.
Kellie was also previously involved in a 15-month piece of work on diabetes and improving diabetes care specifically for people experiencing homelessness. She provided interview insights and was the focus of a short film and an animation and on line learning module. During this project she was full of life and engaging, and the points she made were so clear and insightful. There were 13 sites around the country involved in that project focused on improving the care of people with diabetes, and they all used Kellie’s video and interview insights. This work is also still helping to improve care on an ongoing basis.
We are hugely grateful to Kellie for being generous enough to give us her time and share her experiences when she was feeling unwell, and we know she will help to change many lives for the better in the future.
She is survived by her loving family, headed by her mum Sharon.
Rest in peace Kellie.
Sam, Caroline and Briony.