Please help with my support group mission

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leenevitt

leenevitt

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi Everyone..

Yes its 5.20 in the morning but yet another sleepless night.. long story.. but those who have read the blog will know!.. anyway.. I am so so so passionate about setting up a supprt group in my area.., everytime i go on a forum i see statement hi i am new here would love to meet other people with diabetes.. and although the forums are fab.. if you are like me when you meet someone else with diabetes it is a different feeling altogether.. or is that just me?.. well thats my point really.. is it just me?.. if not then read on.. i have all these ideas in my mind at the mo on how to get the ball rolling.. so for starters i need to go find them.. so i am going to write a letter to post it to all my neighbours.. firstly explaining who i am.. the weird young guy on the mobility scooter who lives down the road..
do they know anyone with diabetes? or are they a parent/spouse
willing to give name address?
have they been to a support group?
would they go?
how often?

guys can you help?...what i need is to pick your brains.. would you ask these questions.. would you ask more?.. and i suppose i am asking YOU these questions to.. Ok the vision may be way out there.. but you have to have a goal.. and mine is that when you are 1st diagnosed you are given a name/address straight away to go a meet someone.. i truly believe it should be apart of the stages of diagnosis .. i.e this is how you use a needle. this is your support group.. the momentum needs to stay up which i think is the problem at the moment.. i would have this up in the pharmacy/gp.. i am going to go to all the local shops.. teh shopping centre.. the local press... my hospital is fab and they said they will support me.. facebook. i have a group on there.... so anyone wanna join me in my crusade... ??
or am i just sleep deprived and on a different planet to everyone else?
I want to make a difference...
private mail me with your answers if you like... nevittlee@yahoo.com .. go on xx😉
 
I wish you every success Lee - I agree with you entirely! On the few occasions that I have got together socially with other diabetics it has felt really good to just be amongst people who 'get it', so you don't have to explain, but you can share experiences, learn new stuff, encourage each other, and put a human face to something that can feel very isolating.

You've certainly made an excellent start, I think. Best to target things first, so the local GPs surgeries and the clinic/hospital to advertise. A door-to-door mailing might not bring much - I know you're not marketing, but my experience of mailshots is that you are lucky to get a 1-2% response rate if you are lucky. Something that might be a good idea is to get some business-style cards printed and ask the DSNs etc. to give them out to newly-diagnosed people. I think posters are good, but people often don't take them in, especially in the fog that accompanies the early days of diagnosis. Longer-term diabetics may not notice posters as they are just part of the 'wallpaper' of their clinic visits. A card is something that they may reach for when they have a moment to reflect and start looking for support outside of the healthcare community.

Best of luck!:D
 
Good luck with your crusade! I may well look you up on facebook!

However I will be honest with you here, I don't think I would respond to such a source on diagnosis, in a way it's quite a shock to the system we all deal with it in out own way and I think the nurses etc at hospital are better trained to show you how to do what etc and get you up and running, now I appreciate not everyone has good experiences but I did and I can only comment on my experiences! I would however now I'm settled down (most days) be prepared to consider some support group style of meeting to help and be helped!

Don't mean to be negative just my thoughts/views, I still wish you all the best and will be interested in how you get on.

Cheers

Rossi🙂
 
Hi Leenevit! not a sleeper?! 😉

Its great to read your post and see someone so motivated to do something, takes a lot of courage.

Can I suggest you visit shellys site? http://www.circledrocks.co.uk/default.html Shelly is a member on here but I think she is really busy and doesnt come on as often as she would like! She set up this group and it has become really sucessfull. She is also really helpful and I know she feels the same way about helping people like this so getting in touch with her or some approach ideas might be useful.

Good luck to you mate x
 
Flyers/cards may be a good idea if clinics would be willing to display them on the reception desk. I'd personally go for a smart looking business card with contact details on it (there are companies out there who do the things very cheaply, some are even free). Folk are more likely to hang on to a card because it's easily stored in a pocket or wallet. A driver for my local taxi company gave me a card sized foldover recently with little ads inside for different local businesses. This could be a way of covering your costs.
 
oooooooh this is a really really good idea! I love these forums to pieces, but when a few of us met up it was a different kettle of fish entirely. It was just so nice to sit with people who didn't need everything explaining to them, with people who 'got it'. It was nice!!!!
 
Hi leenevit,

There are Diabetes UK support groups in many areas. We have at least two within 5 miles of where I live and I attend both. I understand that Diabetes UK will give anyone who is wanting to set one up loads of support.

In my experience, they are relatively poorly attended but great idea and can be very useful.

Best wishes - John
 
Lee, I am in your area and ready to start with the mission!

I have dropped you a couple of PMs with my email address on there. Drop me a note and we can get started.

Rod.


leenevitt said:
Hi Everyone..

Yes its 5.20 in the morning but yet another sleepless night.. long story.. but those who have read the blog will know!.. anyway.. I am so so so passionate about setting up a supprt group in my area.., everytime i go on a forum i see statement hi i am new here would love to meet other people with diabetes.. and although the forums are fab.. if you are like me when you meet someone else with diabetes it is a different feeling altogether.. or is that just me?.. well thats my point really.. is it just me?.. if not then read on.. i have all these ideas in my mind at the mo on how to get the ball rolling.. so for starters i need to go find them.. so i am going to write a letter to post it to all my neighbours.. firstly explaining who i am.. the weird young guy on the mobility scooter who lives down the road..
do they know anyone with diabetes? or are they a parent/spouse
willing to give name address?
have they been to a support group?
would they go?
how often?

guys can you help?...what i need is to pick your brains.. would you ask these questions.. would you ask more?.. and i suppose i am asking YOU these questions to.. Ok the vision may be way out there.. but you have to have a goal.. and mine is that when you are 1st diagnosed you are given a name/address straight away to go a meet someone.. i truly believe it should be apart of the stages of diagnosis .. i.e this is how you use a needle. this is your support group.. the momentum needs to stay up which i think is the problem at the moment.. i would have this up in the pharmacy/gp.. i am going to go to all the local shops.. teh shopping centre.. the local press... my hospital is fab and they said they will support me.. facebook. i have a group on there.... so anyone wanna join me in my crusade... ??
or am i just sleep deprived and on a different planet to everyone else?
I want to make a difference...
private mail me with your answers if you like... nevittlee@yahoo.com .. go on xx😉
Click to expand...
 
hi wallycorker.. the reason for setting one up is because the diabetes uk one is closes here. the other one is to far and is also run more for the"older" generation... thanks

lee
 
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