Diabetes Festival gets 200 children and young people together for World Diabetes Day
A Diabetes Festival for young people aged two to 19 will bring more than 200 young people together for this year’s World Diabetes Day.
The special event, being organised by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, will take place on Saturday 14 November at Sion Manning Girls School in Ladbroke Grove, West London.
There are around 31,500 children and young people with diabetes under the age of 19 in the UK. Of those, 90 per cent have Type 1 Diabetes and 10 per cent have Type 2 Diabetes.
The Diabetes Festival takes place every two years and is a chance for young people and their families to come together outside the hospital environment. This year, the event’s theme is ‘health and wellbeing’ and will feature a range of fun activities and entertainment.
Mando Watson, Pediatric Consultant and clinical lead, at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said:At St Mary’s Hospital we spend a great deal of time treating, educating and caring for patients with diabetes. Our Diabetes Festival is about coming together away from hospital, to enable our patients to feel good and positive about living with diabetes."
The paediatric diabetes team provides a dedicated service for children and young people with diabetes. It supports and educates patients, their families and others in the young person’s life such as teachers. The service leads the way in advanced diabetes practice in hospital, at home, in schools and in the community.
In addition to this, the team has put in place a series of parent support groups, young persons’ user group, carbohydrate counting workshops and events outside of hospital for young patients and families to attend.
Staff organise regular outings - such as pizza making, trips out to the cinema, bowling, to the park and zoo and picnics, as well as coffee mornings for parents of under-fives diagnosed with the long-term condition.
The service has won the National Diabetes Quality in Care award for the best medicine management initiative three times in a row..
