As the year ends, we’re taking the chance to reflect on everything that has been achieved in our region. We’ve rounded up some of the key highlights and wanted to take the opportunity to say a massive thank you to all of our local supporters, fundraisers and partners – we couldn’t have done this without you.
Fundraising
Thanks to our passionate fundraisers in the south west and south central region, so far this year we’ve raised an incredible £233,000. This amount doesn’t even include November and December, so there’s still more to come!
From running and cycling epic distances and holding bake sales, to going sober and taking on 24 hour dancing challenges, our fundraisers were out in full force.
Megan from Bristol ran 100km on World Diabetes Day and raised £4,180, and local business Arval raised £6,254 when a group of employees cycled 386 miles - from Arval HQ in Holland to their UK office in Swindon.
Our Volunteer Sue, who lives with type 1 diabetes, organised and performed in a concert in Somerset and raised £1,800. And Iain, who is based in Berkshire, took on Stoptober and walked 38 miles throughout the same month, raising £3,544, in memory of his late partner Gary.
If you’re interested in fundraising next year, find out more information here.
Volunteering
Our incredible volunteers continued to provide vital support to communities across the region, and we now have 192 active volunteers. Thanks to them, people across the region were able to access local support. Superstar Volunteer, Spencer, singlehandedly organised 45 events and 19 meetings across Cornwall!
Find out more about volunteering here.
Partnerships
We’ve been working with some amazing local organisations who have helped us reach even more people affected by diabetes. Hinkley Point in Somerset put us in front of thousands of employees so we could encourage people to understand their risk of type 2 diabetes.
Fishermen’s Mission gave us information stands at their events, to help us reach fishing communities who often can’t attend GP appointments due to their working patterns. The Trussell Trust Foodbank in Taunton gave us time to train their team so they know where to signpost people living with diabetes.
Contact us if you’d like to find out how to work with us.
Diabetes care
Local healthcare professionals (HCPs) across our region have been working hard to prioritise diabetes care.
They’ve got involved with our campaigning work, including our Tech Can't Wait campaign, which aims to ensure people in the area have fair and equal access to the diabetes tech they’re entitled to.
HCPs have also welcomed our new Tackling Inequalities Commission Report, to help address health inequalities in the region.
In Cornwall, we’ve worked closely with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and a Primary Care Network to host focus groups to understand people’s experience of care so that we can improve it, and we’ve supported many of their events including two Diabetes Care Process Catch Up Days, which provided people with all nine annual diabetes health checks in one appointment.
Feedback from the event was great - one woman told us that as a busy farmer multiple appointments are difficult. Another explained that she is dependent on public transport and so making a single trip is less stressful, saving her time and money.
Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with our work in this space.
Storytelling
This year we started working with 16 people from across the region who are living with or affected by diabetes. These amazing individuals are helping us to raise awareness of diabetes, helping others to feel less alone and helping to address stigma around the condition. Chris from Berkshire (pictured above) shared his story as part of our Tech Can't Wait campaign.
Thank you to everyone who has bravely shared their story this year.
Contact us if you’re interested in sharing your story.
