Local Support

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leenevitt

leenevitt

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi... well i am new here but not new to forums and all that Jazz!!... just wanted to air my views on local support for diabetics especially younger folks.. i contacted 2 in my area.. one was suspended.. due to lack of attendance the other gave me a letter today great but tea mornings and skittles aint for me..not moaning and trying to be proactive and get something going for people like me...
i am trying to create more awarness in my area and thoughout ...
contacted my local school to do something for WDD .. no joy..
Tried to light the Balloon in bournemouth blue.. too expensive and no-one will help fund..
have spoken to the regional D.UK office.... hmmmmmm
i have a blog which does ok with hits.. had my story put on an online mens health mag through Diabetes UK...
The most asked question i hear on forums is where is my local support group... i know when you meet a fellow diabetic it does make a difference.. i could go on forever.. but i do feel a bit like a broken record.. good days n bad days like everyone i suppose...
But i will keep pestering!!!😱
 
I know what you mean. There is officially a support group locally but so far I've nor found then helpful. When I called they were very vague and said they 'might have so meetings when the weathers better...'!

Over the last 6 months or so I've been trying to set up a local support group for 18-30s. So far I've been trying to do it alongside duk but they haven't been particularly helpful so I'm now looking at doing it independantly.
 
Hi and welcome.

There seems to be a general lacking of local support, but it can't be easy.

Makes me think this board could do something about it?
Maybe have a board called regional or something, then there can be a thread for an area, say Essex, NW London, or more specifically maybe a city/town, then people can talk on there and if decide to meet up PM each other for details or the like.

I know there is an events board, but it might do better to have a slow start to an actualy meet, so people can chat about it in their own manor??

Just a thought....
 
My nearest support group is a bus ride away and is not even in the same borough, and many meetings and events are during the day when I am at work. The reaction I get is what you're diabetic and you work full time.

I did try to set up something more local, but with a family and a full time job I'd need some help, but people only wanted to come to meetings and not do anything else.

Like others on this forum I like to get up and do things for myself rather than leave it to others, but offend or please, I can't do it all myself. When I'm feeling down or fed up I'd kill for a bit odf support and a chat with someone who understands, but I guess it aint always to be, and at least we have this forum.
 
Hi Leenevitt, welcome to the forum🙂 I can understand your frustration. DUK do not seem to be very helpful in thsi respect. When I was diagnosed about 18 months ago I went to the DUK website and looked for infromation - nothing in my area. Even where there are groups, they don't have their own webpage to keep people up to date with events and meetings, people, local advice etc. - there is so much more they could do if they were serious about supporting local groups. A good example is my local group, Southampton. I got a letter saying they were starting the group up again last month - I couldn't attend the first meeting, but asked to be informed of future events by email. I have found out that there was a meeting last night, but have received no notification of details as requested. If they don't publicise these things how are people supposed to know about them? Does diabetes bestow psychic powers that I've yet to acquire?

Good luck with your efforts. We have a very broad range of ages on this forum, including a lot of younger people. I do suspect though, that the younger age group, being largely Type 1, are rarer than you might think and thus quite spread out geographically. I've often heard it been said here 'I've been Type 1 for 10,20,30 years but have never met another diabetic.' So finding a few able to congregate locally might prove difficult.
 
hi lee i cant really add myuch to what has been said they have said it all so well lol, but wanted to welcome you to the forum x
 
thank god i am not the only one frustated about the lack of local support was invited to go to a meeting and i was the youngest one there by about 30 years {i am 30 years old } every time i go to a appointment i am the youngest one there .
 
I think it's difficult, there are only a few groups for younger people, I have been to a group but took me nearly 2 hours to get there, so can't go to every meeting.

This forum is having a meet up and there will be people attending of all ages and quite a few of us in our 20's.
 
Soooooo

So everyone seems to agree then??... they are either too far.. dont advertise!!!! or just dont exist.. i like the idea of the meet up note on here... i am in bournemouth so if anyone wants to meet up and have a chat.. then lets get the ball rolling...
 
leenevitt said:
So everyone seems to agree then??... they are either too far.. dont advertise!!!! or just dont exist.. i like the idea of the meet up note on here... i am in bournemouth so if anyone wants to meet up and have a chat.. then lets get the ball rolling...
Click to expand...

You are welcome to join us when we meet in London on Nov 21st too. Theres a few coming from your neck of the woods! 🙂

might be a good first step to meeting people who are a bit more local?
 
I had my first appointment (large group meeting) at my local hospital's Diabetic Clinic this week, and they said there are two local support groups, one here at the hospital, but that's mostly older people as it's in the afternoon....... and I immediately thought "Well that's not for ME then" - lol, I'm such a spring chicken at 53 !! :D:D

The other one's about 6 miles away in Wimbledon, which isn't bad in the car (and it's where I grew up) but I won't be visiting there any time soon, as I'm not one for trekking out on cold winter evenings!!

So, for the time being, THIS is my support group, and I'm more than happy with it, lol. (although, of course, I understand that 'proper' young people prefer to get together with their peers)

xx
 
leenevitt said:
So everyone seems to agree then??... they are either too far.. dont advertise!!!! or just dont exist.. i like the idea of the meet up note on here... i am in bournemouth so if anyone wants to meet up and have a chat.. then lets get the ball rolling...
Click to expand...

Viki said:
You are welcome to join us when we meet in London on Nov 21st too. Theres a few coming from your neck of the woods! 🙂

might be a good first step to meeting people who are a bit more local?
Click to expand...

If you are interestes in the London meet-up the megatrain was available last time I checked and is VERY cheap. I'm getting the usual train to southampton and then getting the megatrain from there at a cost of ?2.50!

Do you go to Bournemouth Hospital for your check-ups leenevitt? They arrange meetings, mostly as a recap of the carb counting course or the course for type 2's.
 
I helped start up and sat on the committee of a local support group. Initially attendances were very good with an age range of (approximately) 25 to 93! New members were very rare despite the local GP?s passing on our details to the newly, and not so newly, diagnosed. After a couple of years the number attending started to fall off. The committee were all in full time in employment and we struggled at times to get a guest speaker. The top consultant at the local hospital used to give an annual update but after three years felt he was talking to the same people in lower numbers. A number of the older members seemed to want ?tea and biscuits? at 3:00 pm rather than an evening meeting. We tried to get some fresh blood on the committee but only ever got one new person to replace the secretary. All the people who you thought would have spare time (i.e. 50+ early retirees) claimed to be too busy. Despite requests to keep it going we decided to wind it up after holding a Christmas party which was only attended by the committee, a couple which arranged the food and two little old ladies. There is a group a little way away from me. I try to get along if there is something of particular interest to me but it is difficult as they start rather early in the evening.

Diabetes UK (BDA) were of limited help as they seemed keener for us to raise money than offer support and education! There is a limit to how many raffles you can hold in a year!
 
i like the idea of the london meeting... where is it? what do you do/talk about x
 
Hello all,

It's a bit specialist, but I have been trying to set up a localish group for diabetic mums / mums to be, given my previous experiences...I must say, DUK have been very supportive, the blocks I have found to date are with the admin side in docs surgery's etc. I've left a load of flyers (printed & provided by DUK) at the diabetic antenatal clinic in Leicester, just waiting to see now what happens & if I get any takers. I get the feeling that DUK are aware of the tendency for groups to be a bit of a pensioner's club, and would be as keen as we are for some more "active" groups, but there's sadly just limited interest on the ground - I think we're a bit spread out! 🙄
 
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