How CMTUK started
Ivor Dartnall-Smith, founder
CMTUK began with its founder, Ivor Dartnall-Smith, who discovered in 1969 that he and several members of his family had Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Despite living with CMT himself, Ivor continued his work with the Salvation Army, including as Superintendent of a leprosy hospital in South India — work that shaped his belief that no one should face a misunderstood condition alone.
Inspired by the Canadian CMT advocate Linda Crabtree, Ivor returned to England determined to create a UK support network for people living with CMT. In 1986 that determination became CMT United Kingdom: a handful of letters, a telephone number, and the simple promise that has carried us ever since — together we are stronger.
“He wanted people with CMT to be able to pick up the phone and hear a voice that understood.”
