Hello, my name is Lisa and I would like to tell you about my son Jack.
When Jack was five years old, something just felt…off. As someone who lives with type 1 diabetes myself, I couldn’t shake the worry. We went to the GP. His blood sugars came back normal.
But eight months later, Jack still wasn’t right. We went for more tests - and that’s when we found out Jack was in the early stages of type 1 diabetes. His immune system had already started attacking the insulin-producing cells in his pancreas.
We were referred to a specialist clinic, where Jack was carefully monitored and a plan was made for when things changed. And eventually, they did. Jack progressed to full type 1 diabetes.
The plan enabled Jack to start insulin calmly in the diabetes clinic, without panic or emergency hospital visits. No terrifying dash to A&E. No life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). We were lucky. But thousands of families aren’t.
This Christmas, you can help change that.
Right now, Diabetes UK is funding life-changing research to build a future where children can be identified, supported and treated before type 1 diabetes takes hold.
They’re backing studies like the ELSA project, which is screening tens of thousands of children to find out who’s at risk or already in the early stages of type 1 - even before any symptoms show.
And now, they’re funding a vital new registry - a list - that will help researchers keep track of every child found to be at risk. It means children like Jack can be closely monitored and started on insulin promptly, rather than ending up in intensive care.
For the first time, there’s also real hope finding type 1 in its early, symptom-free stage. Thanks to decades of research funded by Diabetes UK, new treatments are now emerging - that can actually slow down and delay the condition’s full development.
Please, will you support Diabetes UK today, so more children can be tested, tracked, and treated before damage is done?
Your donation could help fund the research that means fewer families go through the trauma of a sudden diagnosis - and more children get access to treatments that hold back type 1 diabetes.
One day, we might even be able to stop it developing at all. Diabetes UK is working to make early detection and treatment the norm, not the exception.
That’s why I’m asking for your help - to make sure every child at risk is on that life-changing list.
From my family to yours - thank you for anything you can give this Christmas.
£15 could help pay for materials scientists need to grow cells in the lab, allowing them to study how insulin resistance happens and why it causes type 2 diabetes.
£30 could help pay for at-home testing kits that will allow our researchers to identify someone’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes in the future.
£50 could help fund our researchers to run an analysis to study a person’s genetic makeup and help to unravel how our genes can influence our risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Give more for free - don’t forget you can make your donation go further with Gift Aid.
If you're a UK taxpayer, you can increase the value of your donation to Diabetes UK by 25% at no extra cost to you. For example, if you donate £10, we can claim an additional £2.50, making your gift worth £12.50
Thanks to Gift Aid, last year we were able to claim over £1.6 million without any extra cost to our supporters.
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