"Hello Everyone. My name is Gayle and my daughter’s name is Lilly. Lilly was diagnosed with Type1 Diabetes in January 2016 at the age of 6. It was a complete shock to the system. Nobody in our family had Type1 Diabetes.

Overnight I became a mathematician, dietician, night nurse as well as working full time. Diabetes has its challenges which I have found are mostly caused by an individual’s lack of knowledge and understanding of it.

I have been involved with the T1 Club right from the start. It is a safe space where I can share both frustration and opportunities Type1 Diabetes brings. My daughter has benefited greatly from being around other children with Type1 Diabetes as well. There is always a friendly face at the end of a WhatsApp conversation or at one of our meet-ups to help with the questions like what are the carbs in a Mcdonald's cheeseburger or finding a copy of the sick day rules.

The T1 Club is such a supportive group and everybody is at different stages of their journey and I find this support and understanding wonderful."

"Hi my name is Edelle, and I am one of the founders of the T1 Club. My son Shane who is nearly 15 now was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was 7 years old. When Shane was first diagnosed we struggled so much with the relentless nature of Type One Diabetes. This is what pushed me to take action and do something to help as I didn't want other families to struggle like we did in the beginning.

I have a background with youth work and the community sector. I realised the value of our young people making friendships and creating their own support network. It is important for them to be around others who understood what it was like being a child living with Type 1 Diabetes and so the T1 Club was born! I hope our community can help as many young people and families as possible, and am so proud of our work so far filling a need for peer support and ways to meet up and help each other on our journeys. "