Richmond and
Twickenham
Voluntary Group
Please see our News page for our latest activities
Open to all parents of children with diabetes in Richmond, Twickenham and surrounding areas. Please see our dedicated Parents Group page for more information.
Apart from the launch on a Saturday afternoon, all of our meetings have been held on weekday evenings as that seemed the most popular time from members’ feedback. However if there is sufficient support for afternoon sessions they might be organised.
If you would like to attend afternoon meetings, or if you would like to suggest topics for future meetings, please let us know by phoning 020 8941 1785 or emailing Alastair Mackinlay chair@DUKRT.org.uk
Please see our News page for current and upcoming events.
We attended the Hampton Carnival Fair, where Richard and Rodney (above) helped us spread awareness about diabetes, enjoy the sunshine and raise more than £70.
At our regular meeting, we heard from Mike Derry, who told us all about the work done by LINk - the Richmond Health Network. They act as watchdogs to ensure that the borough provides fair, suitable and sufficient services for citizens.
Bank Holiday Monday was another outing for Rodney and Richard - and they won a prize! We took our Splat-the-Rat game to Twickenham Green for the Hands Charity Fair and were rewarded with generous donations and a special prize.
Despite some overcast moments we had a pleasant day at the Richmond May Fair on Saturday the 8th May with the first outing for our new Splat-the-Rat game (see photo). This caused much hilarity with people trying to hit the rats as they whizzed out of the drainpipe. In fact one Jack Russell Terrier found the rats so convincing he grabbed one and tried to run off with it!
As you can see from our diary we will be at summer fairs at Twickenham, Hampton and St Margaret's where our specially trained volunteer stunt-rats will be doing their best to avoid the hammer. See if you can get the better of them!
28 April
Following a recent talk on the psychological impact of diabetes given by Dr Jorg Huber, we arranged an evening visit to the Health Sciences Research Centre at Roehampton University, to see round his laboratory and learn more about the research currently being conducted there.
17 April
We took part in a 6 mile Sponsored Riverside Ramble from Kew to Richmond and back on Saturday 17 April organised by the Rotary Club of Kew Gardens. This was an enjoyable way to raise funds and awareness for both our charity and the Rotary Club's charity.
Angela Usher, Trainer for the Expert Patients Programme described this self-management course, which is provided free by the local Primary Care Trust to people with long term medical conditions.
23 March - Parents Group
Susie Reilly, head of Care Events at Diabetes UK, described some of their events for children and young adults.
February 23 - AGM
Our AGM was followed by a talk by Dr Jen Nash on The Psychological Impact of Diabetes.
19th January
Inaugural meeting of our Parents Group.
During the summer we pitched our tent at some of the Summer Fairs, including Richmond, St Margarets and Hampton. We had a lot of interest and spoke to many people who were diabetic themselves or knew someone who was. As well as giving out leaflets and contact details we ran a little quiz on healthy eating and were pleased to discover that a lot of people do know what is good for them!
Funds and Fundraising
As well as collections and raffles at our various events, we collected nearly £200 rattling our tins outside Tesco and received donations of £100 from Twickenham Rotary and a magnificent £170 from Mrs Valerie Hall, who ran a Care-for-a-Cuppa party.
We still have more than £4,500 from the Mayor's charity to fund projects next year. This year we sponsored research projects, bought DVDs for newly diagnosed Type 2s on the DESMOND course and arranged the Living with Diabetes Day to be held on 31 October.
We could do more of the same next year, but the Committee would welcome members' views including ideas for other projects.
27th November - Quiz Night
A very enjoyable time was had our annual quiz on Friday Nov 27th and we raised £212 on the night.
31st October - Living with Diabetes Day
Following the success of our 2008 event, another Living with Diabetes Day took place on Saturday 31 October, at Richmond Adult Community College.
150 people attended, taking part in discussions, led by clinicians, on several aspects of care including diet, depression, foot and eye complications and blood glucose control. They also heard about a range of research projects looking for a cure as well as new and improved treatments for diabetes.
8 September 2009
Jonathan Le Bosquet gave a talk on the subject of eye screening: what it is, why it is important and what services are available locally.
7 July 2009
Helen Church, Diabetes Specialist Nurse and Betty Ainslie, Acting Diabetes Services Manager/ DESMOND Co-ordinator, described the current Diabetes Services in Richmond, with a question and answer session.
24 February 2009
The guest speaker was Roz Rosenblatt, London Region Manager of Diabetes UK, who previewed the new Model of Care for Diabetes which is about to be published by Healthcare for London.
This meeting was also our annual AGM.
Older events are listed on our
Activity History page.
Registered charity no. 215199
The information presented on this site is for general use only and is not intended to provide personal medical advice or substitute for the advice of your physician. If you have questions or concerns about individual health matters or the management of your diabetes, please consult your diabetes care team. Products highlighted on this website are not necessarily endorsed by Diabetes UK. Visit www.diabetes.org.uk for more information about the charity.