Welcome to the Stourbridge, Dudley and District Voluntary Group website!
During the past few weeks we've held a couple of successful events, one of which was 'An Evening with Carl Chinn' at Stourbridge Town Hall. It was a hugely popular event, attended by over 250 people. Carl reminisced about growing up in Birmingham and the Black Country and amused the audience with his witty tales and anecdotes. The evening was a real success and raised over £1000 for the Group.
At the recent Family Support meeting the group was told about two exciting developments with regards to local diabetes care for children. Insulin pumps will soon be available via the clinic at Russell's Hall Hospital, hopefully from the end of the summer, which is a major step in the right direction. They will, however, be in limited supply, so if this is something you are interested in for your child please raise the matter with the Nurse or Consultant at your next clinic appointment.
A new way of carrying out HbA1c tests for children is also to be introduced. Trials of doing the test during clinic time have proved unsuccessful but a new way of doing this at home prior to the clinic appointment will be tested within the next few months. It's a very simple procedure and involves using the child's own finger pricking device, so all in all it's a much less traumatic experience. You'll be given full details at your clinic appointment when the new service is up and running.
The AGM is fast approaching and the Committee is in desperate need of some new members. The majority of those currently in post are parents of children, so they are obviously focussed on children's issues. Therefore, we need adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to step forward and take over the organisation of events for their group. Unless we get more people on board, then there is a real danger that the adult support side of things will be closed down. If you would like more information about what's involved please contact the Group Chair, Tracy Lee (see Committee page for contact details).