For our October meeting we had Emily Payne from Gloucestershire Podiatry Services give us a talk on looking after our feet and the issues that can arise if we do not!

She covered the basics of foot care, the most important being regularly, if not daily, checking your feet for any signs of damage.  Emily also explained what should happen at your annual foot check,  amazingly she said that there are still reports of foot checks being carried out without  shoes & socks removed, they must have x-ray vision! Continue reading Oct 16 Mtg – Emily Payne – Gloucestershire Podiatry Services →

For our August meeting we were fortunate to have Laura Pearsall and Gordon Taylor, who are both city councillors for the Abbeymead ward in Gloucester come and give a talk on what it like to be a councillor and what it involves.

After letting is know what got them interested in politics, for Laura it was as a result of getting an apprenticeship in the cities MPs office and for Gordon as a result of meeting an existing councillor at a job interview.  Their general council duties consist of meeting their constituents and  helping with any issues they have, attending council meetings and discussions with council officers.  They also sit on various committees, Gordon is Chair of the city Planning Committee and Laura is a member of the Licensing Committee. Continue reading August 2016 Meeting – Laura Pearsall & Gordon Taylor – Local City Councillors →

For our June meeting we had Henry Tellwright, a Diabetes Dietician at Gloucester Royal Hospital come along to talk about what is best for us all to eat, which of course is not necessarily what we want to!

Henry was also assisted by two student dieticians, Hannah Bennett and Daniel Lyons.  The talked covered how the body deals with food when eaten and the effects of too much sugar and fats for those with diabetes.  They also discussed the basics of healthy eating and how in reality this applied to everyone, not just those with diabetes.

There was also a lively debate on the relevant merits of different diets, in particular a low carbohydrate diet, whilst these have been shown to work, the long term effects are not fully understood at present, with more research looking into this.  This is not to say people should not use such diets, but its advised that they discuss it with their medical care team first.

Overall it was an interesting and informative evening.

Unfortunately the three local councillors who were due to speak at our April meeting were unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances, although we hope to have then come along later in the year.  However we did have two speakers, first Natasha Scott for Gloucestershire NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and then myself with a Photo Quiz.

Natasha came along to talk about a new Diabetes Footcare Project the CCG are setting up.  The aim of the project is to ensure patients requiring footcare are referred to the right people at the right time.  It will help supporting GPs and their patients in managing potential footcare complications early on, thereby improving their quality of life and hopefully prevent symptoms getting worse and equally further clinical intervention. Continue reading April 2016 Meeting – Natasha Scott – Diabetes Footcare Project & Mike Broome – Photo Quiz →