On Staurday 15 April the Group was invited to set up a stall at the Health & Wellness Expo being held at St Aldates Church Gloucester and organised by the Seventh Day Adventist Community Group.
Mike Coombs, Jay McCaffery and Mike Broome attended and duly set up our stall along with other groups and organisations covering such issues as dental health, dementia, Prostate Cancer and organ donor awareness and others. Continue reading Health & Wellness Expo
Further to the AGM (see “News” item: AGM Feb 17) held in February, Mike Coombs has now been confirmed as the new Chair wef 1 Mar 17 and Jay McCaffery as the new Secretary wef 1 Jun 17
For our April meeting we were pleased to welcome Dr Alison Evans, a Consultant Physician, Diabetes & Endocrinology at Cheltenham General Hospital to the Group to give a talk. Also Martin Reeves, who organised a dance in February which raised funds for the Group, came along to present a cheque for £75.00, which was gratefully accepted by Mike Coombs our new Chair. Continue reading April 17 Meeting – Dr Alison Evans – Consultant Physician, Diabetes & Endocrinology
On Saturday 25th February, Martin Reeves organised a dance at the Wotton Hall Club in Gloucester, from which the proceeds from the raffle were to be donated to the Group.
Martin regularly organises dances at Wotton Hall and this one was to feature music from the 1960s & 70s with some Motown thrown in as well. Mike & Chris Coombs and myself and Jane attended the dance and had a very enjoyable evening with some lively music ensuring the dance floor was in constant use.
I would like to thank Marting for organising the dance and donating the raffle proceeds to the Group.
Martin has now let me know that £75.00 was raised which will help us carry on supporting those in Gloucester with diabetes and the donation is much appreciated.
After the AGM (see “News” item: AGM Feb 17) we had a talk by Kate Dembenski, a Diabetes Clinical Nurse in the Paediatric Diabetes Unit at the Gloucester Royal Hospital.
Kate explained about how Type 1 diabetes can affect young children and that increasingly Type 1 is being diagnosed in adults, an extreme case being a lady of 90!! She also gave a brief explanation of how the hospital treat youngsters when they are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Continue reading February 17 Meeting – Kate Dembenski – Diabetes Clinical Nurse
The Groups Annual General Meeting was held during the February Meeting, of which the minutes, including the Chair’s & Treasure’s reports, will be sent to all members.
Elections took place for the Group Committee. Mike Broome (Chair & Secretary) and Graham Terrett (member) stood own from the Committee. Jay McCaffery and Vivienne Gay volunteered to join the Committee and both were voted on by a unanimous vote of those present. There were no other volunteers to join the committee. The remaining existing Committee members put themselves up for re-election, and were again accepted by a unanimous vote. The Committee comprises of:
The positions of Chair and Secretary will be confirmed by the new Committee by the end of February. Under the Group rules Mike Broome will remain as Chair & Secretary until 28 Feb to effect the handover to the new incumbents.
Update: Mike Coombs has been confirmed as the new Chair wef 1 Mar 17 and Jay McCaffery as the new Secretary wef 1 Jun 17
Mike Broome announced in October to the Group members that he would be standing down as Chair & Secretary at the Annual General Meeting on 8 February 2017, and asked if anyone would be interested in taking over the roles. To date no one has expressed a willingness to take on either of these positions.
Mike is standing down for several reasons, one being he has been Chair and Secretary for a few years now and feels that its time for new blood to take over and bring fresh ideas to the Group. Mike has enjoyed his time at the head of the Group and in some ways will miss this involvement, however he will be remaining a member and will support it from the “back benches”
If a new Chair and Secretary cannot be found, then the viability of the Group is at risk, as these positions must be filled to comply with Diabetes UK policy on the constitution of the voluntary groups.
Ideally the posts should be filled by two different people, so if anyone, whether a current Group member or not, feels they would like to take on the role of either Chair or Secretary, please let Mike know as soon as possible.
It would be a great shame if the Group had to close and more importantly a loss to those who may need its support now or in the future.
Our December meeting and Christmas social was held on Wednesday 13 Dec. It was a similar format
to previous years with all attending bring along some food & drink to share, and more importantly a large dose of Christmas Cheer.
Mike Coombs was approached by Sharon Henry fro the Church of God of Prophecy in Melbourne Street East, Gloucester, to see if someone from the Group would be available to give a talk about diabetes.
Mike Broome agreed and went along on Sun 6 Nov 16 to give a short talk giving a brief explanation of what diabetes is, the risk factors, symptoms and a broad outline of how it is treated. He explained what hypos are and how to deal with them. Finally he covered what the Gloucester Group does and how it and Diabetes UK can give support and help to those with diabetes and their friends and families. Continue reading Diabetes Talk – Church of God of Prophecy – Gloucester
On Tuesday 18 October Mike Coombs and Mike Broome attended the Gloucester Royal Hospital’s Paediatric diabetes parents evening at the Holiday Inn, Barnwood. The evening is arranged so the parents of children with Type 1 diabetes can get together to
talk and also to hear updates on what’s happining the the yo hear presentation from the medical staff on what’s happening in the Paediatric Diabetes Unit and the latest research and treatments available. Continue reading Gloucester Royal Hospital’s Paediatric Diabetes Parents Evening