Diabetes UK Oldham Voluntary Support Group
There are at least 10 000 people in Oldham who are known to have diabetes. And there are many more who have it and don’t know it, and then there are people on the verge of developing it but aren’t aware of it.
Diabetes affects far more than just the person diagnosed with it, and its effects spread to a wide range of other people.
So, we approach the condition on the basis of “diabetes and you”. And “you” might be the one diagnosed with it, or “you” might be their husband, wife, parent, child, brother, sister, partner, friend or relative, or be their employer or maybe a fellow worker. Equally, “you” might be a carer, healthcare professional, or simply an interested party. In some cases, “you” might be a person that comes across someone with diabetes experiencing a “hypo” in the street or on the bus.
Our Group is run by volunteers, and we aim to provide advice and awareness training, plus practical and moral support, and act as a focal point for queries from sufferers.
We provide the following:
- A telephone helpline 17 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
- Awareness training sessions to individuals, staff groups, clubs, care homes, professional organisations and the medical profession
- Home visits for people who need them
- An almoner service for our members
- Practical support, including transport to doctors and hospital appointments, and hand-holding during those appointments where requested
- A monthly social and informative meeting – free to all
- Impartial assistance with getting motor and holiday insurance
- Links with the Community Diabetes Team, Oldham PCT , the Pennine Acute Trust , Oldham Community Leisure, Age Concern, the Food Network, the Lifelong Learning Service, the Adult Learning Service, OMBC in general and many other organisations
We’ve represented people on diabetes-related issues in the magistrates’ court, in insurance claims and in dismissals from employment .
Everyone is treated as an individual and we don’t have a “one size fits all approach”.
Because of its prevalence in Oldham in those communities, we’ve developed increasing links with the Afro-Caribbean Association and the South Asian community, notably via Coppice Community Centre and the Pakistani Community Centre. Recently, we’ve become involved with the Ukrainian community and are looking at other eastern European groups.
Members of our committee sit on the North East Manchester Diabetes Network, local Patient Participation Groups and national NHS diabetes initiatives. So, we can influence both local and national initiatives.
All the services we provide are delivered free of charge to all, and we don’t expect any of our members to join Diabetes UK’s national organisation or to provide any funding if they don’t want to.
We see it as our function to raise awareness – not money. Nobody in our Group gets paid for their efforts, so what funds we do raise go directly towards providing our services.
So far, we’ve had over 750 attendances at our awareness sessions and these have included, amongst others, a GP and her practice nurses.
Going forward, we’re planning to increase our activities so that we have a bigger positive impact on the Borough’s health (particularly among minority ethnic groups, young people and the socially-excluded) and for this we need to improve our visibility in the community through the media and other means, increase the number and spread of our awareness sessions and build on the success we’ve achieved to date.
Find your local Diabetes UK support group here.
For help or advice on Diabetes contact Barry Cassidy:
24 hour helpline: 07754 476369
Telephone: 01706 669 129
Email: nwbs@ntlworld.com
www.diabetes.org.uk
Monthly meeting on the first Wednesday in every month at The Link Centre, Union Street, Oldham OL1 1DZ at 7:30pm
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