Will you continue your membership of DUK?

[Ghost Hunter]

This post has raised a valid point to me, I have been a member of DUK since I was diagnosed, so about 2 years. My father has been a member longer.

Anyway it has now set me thinking what am I actually paying for? Ok I get the Ballance magazine but thats it other than the occasional mail-out asking me for donations or to sell raffle tickets on their behalf, then theres the fundraising I could be doing. I offered to run regular fundraising events for them at one time not so far back but they said they could not be associated with such an event and I were reluctant to allow me to use their official logos etc. Ok I respect the fact that it may not be an appropriate event to everyones taste but fundraising is fundraising in my eyes and no one is forced to participate! Yet they seem to be supporting and associating 'well known people' doing exactly the same events so why not me? Do they want the money, support and funding from me or not?!

Yes I have looked on their website several times for information, but I dont have to be a member to do that and in truth find it quite an unfriendky site as not easy to navigate.

On the topic of 'the letter' I have to add that maybe my view would be biased in the opposite direction should I not have Diabetes, but in my defence I am Type 2 and currently dont test or inject. I can see the views from both sides of the argument but as I attended a secondary school in which disabled children were integrated and some were my best frinds I have learnt to tollerate and respect others different to myself in many respects and accept everyone has a right to an opinion, whether I agree or disagree so long as they hear what my opinion is and respect it as much as I do their own, and on most matters we agree to disagree and leave it well alone and move on!

I cant say I am impressed with the lack of support for its members DUK has shown. Whether the individual staff member agreed or disagreed they should show support for the company she works for and its members.

So I am having a rethink on whether I value my membership with DUK as I like the Ballance magazine but as for support from them thats about it. I get more harrassed to support them and provide them financialy than they provide me.

So if someone can remind me what I am actually paying for I can decide on my answer and take appropriate action if necessary.

Thanks 🙂

 

[Einstein]

Ghosthunter,

You raise some interesting points, like most insulin dependants I use a pen with a needle so fine from 2' way you wouldn't see it, under the edge of the table, I undo a shirt button, insert the needle, no amateur dramatics about the pain, press the pluger, wait 6 seconds, remove, put the pen and needle away and fasten my shirt button.

More people ask me what I've just done and then 'doesn't that hurt' is the next question, not one person has ever told me I am disgusting to leave the table or any such comment, and I have dined out considerably and with some high profile clients.

We are considerate people in the main, we don't go out to be ill and make a spectacle of ourselves, we want to get on and live our lives as fully as we can.

Regarding DUK, until very recently they were one of a few charities that I acknowledged as delivering their members, not just me, but everyone a good service. Recent events have caused me to look at the overall service and ask what they do for me. The answer today is send me a magazine every two months, which I look at, but don't read like I used to.

And they ask me for more money than I already give each year.

Even the members area of the web site doesn't really appear to give much more information, in years gone by there used to be a chart comparing different meters, insulin pens etc. Certainly I couldn't find the meter chart easily. And it should be at our fingertips.

I can't speak about the weekends, either child or adult as I have no experience.

Its all well and good handing out grants for research, but ultimately this is our money, and there seems to be very little accountability. When was the last report on a research investment DUK had made - you know a couple of pages on this is where your moneys gone, this is whats happened so far. We all know a lot of research delivers nothing, thats research, but a summary whats happening 'on the other side' would be nice to know about.

We're kept in tha dark and made to make do with what they want to feed us.

 

[Northerner]

...So if someone can remind me what I am actually paying for I can decide on my answer and take appropriate action if necessary.

Thanks 🙂

They do fund a lot of research into the causes and treatments for diabetes, which, whilst not being directly helpful to individuals, is worthwhile in the long run, much the same as with Cancer Research UK, so I don't feel as though I'm just paying for Balance - the whole of the diabetic community should benefit from their work.

I agree that their website is not very well set out - I find the main problem is that there is so little information on each page, so you are continually clicking to get to the next bit of info. Plus, the search engine is poor and I also has great difficulty logging in at one point (the helpdesk were quick in responding though, to their credit).

 

[angel30eyes]

I also found that trying to find the link or info about this forum was very hard to find and it isn't easy and compared to to other support groups like NACC (National Association for Crohns & COlitis) they don't give much away, the NACC have a grant section to help towards a holiday for anyone on a low income, they give you a guide on how to fill out a DLA form etc which i found so useful for my boy when he was little as it was so indepth, and on the HMS website again they have so much info to help you out like pain relief if your having a real bad day or ways to help ourself get through a bad day etc, it seems that they are more out there to help the indivual cope on a daily basis and that is what we need

 

[angel30eyes]

Oh and the NACC fund for cause/treatment/research etc and they also have decent support groups in the area too

 

[allisonb]

I've already cancelled my membership. The inconsiderate woman outraged me when she wrote her first letter but DUK had no consideration for it's members when they decided to publish her second letter under the excuse that she had a right to respond to the objections she created. Publishing a letter that refers to us as 'diabetic junkies' and makes a comparison to us and drug users is just not on............am still very cross! DUK should know better.

 

[sofaraway]

I won't be cancelling my membership at this point. I have read the letter several times and I don't read it as her calling us junkies.
The 2 times i have called the careline have been useless, once I got put through to someones answerphone and they never rang me back. The second time they said that they couldn't help and ring my gp (it was regarding prescription exemption).
I have seen some subtle changes regarding things I have complained about in the past, like they now on their questionarres etc. have 'other' as an option when choosing diabetes type, in the past you had to choose type 1 or 2.

 

[kincaidston]

to be honest i think everybody is over reacting on this subject and although i don't agree with the writer of the letter she still has the right to put across her view, this is a free country and i agree with DUK to publish her response.

the overwhelming number of letters in the previous issue of balance against her view point more than balance out her views

as to cancelling membership of DUK over somebody else's point of view which i'm sure was only published to stimulate debate (which you have to admit has been sucessful) is petty at least, you have to remember that DUK fund research for our mutual benefit, they may not get things right all the time but then again thats life

 

[mikep1979]

to be honest i think everybody is over reacting on this subject and although i don't agree with the writer of the letter she still has the right to put across her view, this is a free country and i agree with DUK to publish her response.

the overwhelming number of letters in the previous issue of balance against her view point more than balance out her views

as to cancelling membership of DUK over somebody else's point of view which i'm sure was only published to stimulate debate (which you have to admit has been sucessful) is petty at least, you have to remember that DUK fund research for our mutual benefit, they may not get things right all the time but then again thats life

sorry i dont agree at all. the first letter yes ok maybe it did stimulate debate but the second letter is going on to slander the name of countless diabtics the world over and duk are just as guilty as the writer of the letter as they printed it, knowing full well the ammount of comments that stated this person was wrong, with blatant disregard for anyones feeling. and to cap it all of have yet to issue a full and frank appology!!!! im sorry and call me petty if you like, but i did not serve my country to make sure we have the rights of free speech and the likes of rights we do have for some snotty little s**g of a woman (iuf you can call her that) to attack me with a verbal broadside.

 

[SamInnocent]

All I can say is "don't shoot the messenger"! To cancel your membership because you don't agree with the opinion of someone who wrote a letter that got published is ridiculous. As Kincaidston said, it was printed to stimulate debate and wasn't the view of the magazine itself.
The woman who wrote that letter has the same right to free speech as the rest of us and although I certainly don't agree with her views, I respect the fact that she has an (admittedly absurd) opinion.
The Balance magazine is one small part of Diabetes UK, with the vast majority of your membership money and donations going to research, which benefits all of us, and education. To cancel your membership and therefore take money away from the charity is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot!!

 

[mikep1979]

All I can say is "don't shoot the messenger"! To cancel your membership because you don't agree with the opinion of someone who wrote a letter that got published is ridiculous. As Kincaidston said, it was printed to stimulate debate and wasn't the view of the magazine itself.
The woman who wrote that letter has the same right to free speech as the rest of us and although I certainly don't agree with her views, I respect the fact that she has an (admittedly absurd) opinion.
The Balance magazine is one small part of Diabetes UK, with the vast majority of your membership money and donations going to research, which benefits all of us, and education. To cancel your membership and therefore take money away from the charity is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot!!

it is not at all as there are a lot of other worth while charities doing good things for diabetes. yes a lot of them are not in the uk but that dont matter to me. i would never expect a huge charity like duk to even give the second letter a look over let alone publish it. how you can say she has a right to state what she did is a joke. she wasnt expressing an opinion at all she was launching a verbal attack on insulin users. the editorial team at balance are in it up to their necks but so is duk as they have been inundated with emails about this and there for should have by now taken action but they havent so for me they are letting themselves be tarred with the same brush. now if you want to be deluded and think that duk gives a c**p about you or your donations them ok thats your choice, but i for one know they dont give 2 hoots over it.

 

[SamInnocent]

Speaking as someone who has seen the changes that the BDA (which then became Diabetes UK) has made over the 30 years I've had Type 1 - including petitioning the government to provide free disposable syringes and winning (yes, we used to have to pay for disposable syringes, with only glass ones which you had to sterilise yourself to re-use available on the NHS for free, remember that?).

One letter that they publish is not going to make me withdraw my support.

 

[Northerner]

I don't disagree with printing the first letter, it's the second one I have a problem with. I've been back and analysed it again, and if it is supposed to be a 'response to the responses', it really is a load of thoroughly unjustified nonsense. The editor should have realised this and either not printed it or asked her to reword it.

In letter 2 she has picked up on any comment that she felt able to blow up out of all proportion. Practically all the responses were from people who explained their perfectly rational arguments for injecting discreetly at the table, and how this had helped them, others and their children to cope with having diabetes. This turned into a rant accusing these people of being concerned only with themselves, 'in yer face' - as though they all waved their needles around, exposed huge expanses of punctured flesh and drew gallons of gushing, spurting blood from their filthy wounds.

She ignored the responses from children who had been made to feel bad by her her earlier rant, causing further damage by accusing parents of bringing their children up to be ignorant and uncaring, self-centred yobs, intent on spoiling the enjoyment of others as long as it didn't spoil theirs.

And yet, she claims to be 'tolerant' - thus showing a complete and utter failure to understand the meaning of the word.

It shouldn't have been printed, Balance should have apologised for their mistake rather than ducking the issue, and things would not have got so heated. It's this lack of respect that has dismayed me the most, and the intimation that they feel they have done nothing wrong.

I'll probably continue with my subscription, but this episode has tarnished the organisation somewhat. In future sponsored events, I will choose a different diabetes charity to raise money for.

 

[kincaidston]

the easiest way for someone to prove themselves as a fool is to allow them to speak!

if you believe the above then surely you have no option but to print the second letter because it proves that her arguement isn't based on a common sense approach

 

[SamInnocent]

the easiest way for someone to prove themselves as a fool is to allow them to speak!

if you believe the above then surely you have no option but to print the second letter because it proves that her arguement isn't based on a common sense approach

Exactly!! The original letter writer also has a right to reply to the comments made about her letter. Balance magazine should remain impartial and anyway states that the views expressed in the Letters pages are not those of the magazine itself.

 

[Northerner]

the easiest way for someone to prove themselves as a fool is to allow them to speak!

if you believe the above then surely you have no option but to print the second letter because it proves that her arguement isn't based on a common sense approach

I do see what you are saying, but unfortunately, I doubt many pople will have viewed it in that way. We see from this poll that the majority of respondents have had their faith in DUK shaken, although maybe a better question would have been 'Do you think the editor of Balance should apologise for his error of judgement?' There are a lot of stupid people in the world who say some ridiculous, bigoted, and provocative things. Just because we are aware of their stupidity does not necessarily make it any easier to live with their insulting behaviour. I've no doubt that a lot of vulnerable people, who are maybe not as vocal, have had their self-confidence knocked for no purpose.

 

[MCH]

I see what you are saying about confidence having been knocked.

Having said that, here is also something comforting in knowing that so many of us have been discretely injecting for years without any fuss! 😉

It is nice to know that so many of us are just getting on with our lives.

 

[Northerner]

I see what you are saying about confidence having been knocked.

Having said that, here is also something comforting in knowing that so many of us have been discretely injecting for years without any fuss! 😉

It is nice to know that so many of us are just getting on with our lives.

Yes, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who is relatively newly diagnosed. It's not second nature to me to inject whilst out and about - I still feel that the eyes of the world are upon me, although they are surely not, and if I feel this way (and I'm a tough Northerner🙂) I'm certainly not alone.

She'd put her views and had been responded to. I'm sure there were far more interesting, fresh topics to discuss in their mailbox, rather than wasting valuable space with more of her minority viewpoint.

 

[bev]

Alex is only 11 and he injects discreetly at the table - but if someone saw him i wouldnt want him to be called a 'diabetic junkie'! I do believe in freedom of speech - but i dont have to like what is being said! DUK should have had a bit of forethought into how many people it could offend, and the thick nurse should have known better - it beggars belief how she even became a nurse in the first place with her sort of 'dark ages' mentality! And freedom of speech is acceptable - but when it steps into downright discrimination then i am sorry but it is just that - discrimination - and that has to be wrong in anybodies book.
I never want Alex to feel that he has to hide his diabetes - and i dont want him to rub it into peoples faces either - but i do want him to have confidence and self esteem. This woman and people like her could do so much damage to a young mind and set them on a path of self -loathing and low self -esteem.

Where would it all end - asking people in wheelchairs not to go out - just in case somebody finds it offensive - or asking people to take their hearing devices off in case they find it offensive? Or better still - telling an asthmatic to stop breathing heavily and to stop using their inhalers? After all, how dare anyone with a life threatening condition 'offend' anyone who is in perfect health by using such an offensive weapon as a millimetre sized needle that most people couldnt see if more than 2 feet away!

DUK really should have known better than to allow discrimination to be printed in a magazine for the very people they want money off! Bev

 

[Northerner]

...DUK really should have known better than to allow discrimination to be printed in a magazine for the very people they want money off! Bev

Maybe they think we are a captive audience, unlikely to withdraw support because we'd only be hurting ourselves. If so, it's not what I'd call a caring attitude.