Running For Children With Diabetes
10,151 Miles Run £225,625 donated

Back again!

This past year has been so busy for lots of different reasons, but running to raise money for children with diabetes has continued.

Why Run? Around 20,000 children in the UK have type 1 or insulin dependant diabetes (IDDM)  but only a tiny proportion have an insulin pump to help them to manage their diabetes. The appeal started as a means to supply children with insulin pumps when the local health authority refused to pay for them. Since then it has led to an increased awareness about children's diabetes and the use of insulin pumps. From a situation where children could only get a pump from charity funding, the proportion of children in County Durham with an insulin pump is the highest in the UK.
The problem at present is that the service is very precarious. Indeed the provision of care for children with diabetes in the UK generally is a disgrace. In an audit carried out in 2004-5 only 12% of children in the UK achieved acceptable blood sugar control. The type of service needed to get the best results has been known about for over 20 years, and is usual in most of the developed world, but not in the UK. The purchasers of health care have no enforceable targets to meet for children's diabetes so they won't prioritise services for them. This is despite the fact that a child diagnosed with diabetes on average has a reduction of 23 years life expectancy.
Why Fundraise? The fundraising continues for the present, so that children outside the county can benefit, but also it allows for updating insulin pumps with better models and providing extra support for all the children with diabetes.
Thank You! To all the hundreds of wonderful people who have donated to the fund over the past years, from the smallest donation to the largest, all the money goes to support the children.