A trio of Diabetes Specialist Nurses from Oxfordshire are teaming up to take part in the Prudential Ride46London bike ride to raise money for Diabetes UK.
The Oxfordshire Community Diabetes Service is a local health service employed by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust which sees over 1000 patients a year. The service supports GP practices and other community health care teams to help them care for adults with predominantly Type 2 diabetes and also runs structured education courses for patients with Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes Specialist Nurses Penny Latimer, Jane Maskell and Perdy van den Berg are busy training ahead of the 46-mile ride on Sunday 30th July.
Diabetes is a huge and growing problem. In the UK, there are more than 4.5 million people who have diabetes. Diabetes UK supports people living with diabetes, from offering information about managing the condition well to funding the highest quality research into potential new treatments.
Penny Latimer, Community Diabetes Specialist Nurse, said: “We’re all passionate about diabetes, between the three of us we have built up over 40 years’ experience of helping people with the condition and wanted to raise money for a cause very close to our hearts. I attended a conference recently and saw a presentation from the team who produced the TV Documentary “Fixing Dad”, this was a real inspiration and motivated us to get on our bikes and start training!”
Jane Maskell, Community Diabetes Specialist Nurse, said: “As a team we are conscious of needing to include physical activity in our daily lives and to eat sensibly. We all try to walk, cycle or go to the gym regularly. Doing Ride46 London will be a great personal challenge for me as a non-cyclist, but I’m getting into training at my local gym in Bicester. Knowing that I’m raising money to support the great work of Diabetes UK is an excellent incentive.”
Perdy van den Berg, the Clinical Lead for the Oxfordshire Community Diabetes Service, said: “I am a keen cyclist and encouraged Jane and Penny to join me in a team challenge. Who knows where it may lead us, it could become an annual challenge? I have benefitted from the leadership training that Diabetes UK offers and we are all very aware of the wide ranging types of support they provide for people living with diabetes, their families/carers and health care professionals. Cycling is a great, fun way to get active and we really hope others will be inspired to join us on the ride and raise money for Diabetes UK”.
Jill Steaton, Regional Head for Diabetes UK in the South East, said: “Cycling has so many health benefits. I try to cycle whenever I can but 46 miles is quite a feat – I wish the ladies the very best of luck. They’re an inspiration to us all.”
Donations can be made via these just giving pages:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Penny-Latimer
