Primary school to raise funds for type 1 diabetes research

A primary school in Bournemouth has been inspired by a local family’s struggles with type 1 diabetes to hold a fundraising event for a leading diabetes charity.
On World Diabetes Day, November 14, Hillview Primary School will ‘Go Blue’ for the day and hold an activity to help raise vital funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), which specialises in research to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes and its complications.
The fundraising move has been inspired by Debbie White and her four children, three of whom have type 1 diabetes.
Debbie’s eldest child Dyla, 14, was six when he was diagnosed with the lifelong disease, while eight-year old Oliver and six-year old Corbin – pupils at Hillview Primary – were both diagnosed at the age of four. Daughter Emily, aged two, is so far unaffected.
Debbie said having a third child develop type 1 diabetes, which is extremely rare, had been traumatic. “I was in denial about it for a long time. I thought I’d never cope but I did,” she said.
The former nurse now hopes her kids’ experience in living with type 1 diabetes will help raise awareness of the autoimmune condition among parents, and encourage them to be aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease.
The UK currently has the world’s fifth highest rate of type 1 diabetes diagnosis in children aged up to 14, with research compiled by Diabetes UK showing that 24.5 per 100,000 children aged 0-14 in the UK are diagnosed with the condition every year.