Young people with Type 1 Diabetes off to Kilve again.
In August, the Musgrove Children’s Diabetes Team took 13 young people (aged between 14 and 17) with Type 1 Diabetes to Kilve Court Residential Centre for 3 days of fun, activities, games and making new friends. There were loads of opportunities for the young people to talk with each other about what it’s like having diabetes and learning to manage it for themselves; and a chance to do activities some hadn’t done before – including archery, abseiling, raft-building, paddleboarding and karaoke.
On our return we had some lovely emails from the families:

• Thank you so much for taking G (and the rest of the group!) away to Kilve. She went off feeling very apprehensive but came back enthused with stories and smiles. It was so lovely for her to be surrounded by other children who just “get it,” where her normal is everyone else’s normal too—that’s such a rare and special thing for her and all the others too.
  I know this trip was first and foremost for the children, but I just wanted to say that it was an amazing bit of respite from diabetes for me too. I hadn’t really expected that little bonus! To send her off and not have diabetes constantly in the back of my mind was such a gift—I didn’t even feel the need (beyond pure curiosity!) to check her blood sugars afterwards, which is incredible. It was truly the most restful, stress-free break from diabetes that I’ve had in years. It felt like the old days before our unexpected and unwelcome guest moved in.
  Thank you all so much for giving up your time, and a special thank you also to Tracy and the Josh Evans Trust, without whose support this wouldn’t have been possible. We’re so very grateful. Looking forward to next year!

• I would just like to say a huge thank you, passed on too by E, for organising the Kilve trip.
  She had the most amazing time and would definitely like to go again next year. She came back raving about all the activities and has made a couple of fab new friends.

Once again, we were generously supported financially by the Josh Evans Trust Fund https://joshevanstrustfund.org.uk/ a local charity who provide support for Somerset Type 1 Diabetes children, young people and their families.