Speaking about diabetes in your local area is a very effective way of raising awareness and can make a real difference to the community. It is an exciting and flexible way to volunteer that is very rewarding – you can develop your skills and knowledge and at the same time make a difference to people that were not aware of diabetes.
Would you be interested in getting involved?
We have started Speaker Scheme in the South East in 2008 and in 2010 we already have a network of dedicated volunteers. There has been a lot of effort put into developing the Speaker Scheme to reach more people and we have held three workshops and trained more on an individual basis.
Dedicated volunteers have delivered at least 11 talks last year and we are always delighted to hear about their current work.
We now have over 30 Speaker Volunteers that are dedicated to raising awareness of diabetes in their local areas and we are looking forward to developing this network.
You could join the Diabetes UK speaker scheme. We appreciate your commitment and will give you the training and materials that will support you. To find out more get in touch with the South East team. We are also looking forward to hearing from you if you are looking for a speaker to talk about diabetes in your local community.
Andrew Phillips, volunteer who has recently became a speaker, says:
“I am a member of Diabetes UK and I was very interested to read about your Speaker Scheme workshops in the Spring 2010 edition of Diabetes UK South East news. The scheme allows you to source opportunities to give talks on your own, and I like this independence.”
Maria Buckley delivering a talk in October 2011
Read on to find out about Speaker Volunteer stories.