My Story

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My name is Kristine Reilly‑Blake. I live in North Northumberland with my husband and our two children. 

I am the founder and director of Healthy Homes and Beyond IAQ, co‑founder of the not‑for‑profit Mould Mission, and co‑director of Kidstruction CIC, which empowers children and families to understand healthy homes and indoor environments.

My journey into indoor air quality wasn’t a career choice it began as a mother fighting to keep her child alive.

At 19, I had a daughter with an undiagnosed respiratory condition. 

From four months old she was on inhalers, yet we were given almost no guidance. Years of hospital admissions, steroids, and appointments followed, but no one ever talked about triggers, the home environment, or what a real emergency looked like.

When my daughter was nine, she suffered a severe asthma attack that nearly cost her life. I didn’t know asthma could be fatal. I didn’t know when to call an ambulance. Those moments changed everything.

We moved to Northumberland in 2012 hoping for a fresh start.

Instead, my daughter’s health collapsed. She was blue‑lighted repeatedly to the Great North Children’s Hospital and diagnosed with severe asthma. At one point, she was statistically among the most unwell children in the region.

That’s when I began asking questions that no one else seemed to ask...

 Could something in our home be making her sick?

Professionals dismissed the idea, so I started learning for myself: building science, damp and mould, VOCs, particulates, mycotoxins, and environmental health. 

I documented everything until I could finally prove what I instinctively knew:  our home environment was harming my daughter.

The emotional toll on our family was enormous. The physical illness was only part of it; trauma, fear and mental health impacts followed. Watching your child suffer in ways that feel preventable changes you forever.

The turning point came when my daughter was chosen for a Dreamflight charity trip to Florida. In ten days, she used her reliever inhaler once. Back home, it was needed every four hours with daily steroids. Within 48 hours of returning to the UK, she was hospitalised again. The contrast forced professionals to listen.

From there, I channelled everything into learning, training and advocacy.

I became a:

• Certified Indoor Environmentalist (CIE)

• CIRSx‑trained medically important remediation professional

• Indoor air quality specialist

• Independent damp and mould surveyor

• Fitwel‑certified practitioner

• L3 Award holder in Damp, Mould & Condensation in Buildings

I went on to write the UK Framework for Medically Important Remediation and Air Quality Improvement, which has been formally accepted by the Scottish Parliament for housing legislation amendment.

I now work nationally on policy, medically important remediation reform, professional standards and health‑focused building practice.

Alongside this, I co‑direct Kidstruction CIC, helping empower children and families to understand safe, healthy indoor environments. Something I wish I had known when my daughter was small.

Healthy Homes and Beyond IAQ exists because no family should ever have to fight alone, or spend years trying to be heard, the way we did.

Looking ahead, my mission is clear: to help reshape how the UK understands indoor air quality: from housing to health to building design so that future generations grow up in homes that support, not damage, their wellbeing.

Thank you for reading my story. If you’re facing your own indoor air quality concerns, please reach out. I understand more than you know.