Diabetes patients sitting more comfortably thanks to big donation for diabetes centre

Fundraising activities including wine tasting, ladies bingo, a half marathon and the British 10k London Run have led to a further £12,000 donation from The Michael Green Diabetes Foundation towards services at Watford Hospital.

The charity presented a cheque to the Trust in the Michael Clements Diabetes Centre, which brings the total of funds they have raised to £76,000 since June 2013, almost half of which has been donated to diabetes services at Watford Hospital to improve standards of care.

Steve Barnett, Chairman, Dr. Thomas Galliford, Consultant Endocrinologist, and Sonia Fullerton, Lead Specialist Diabetes Nurse, were delighted to accept the gift, which will be used to help fund a dietitian and specialist couches in the Centre for the assessment and treatment of diabetes related foot problems.

The Michael Green Diabetes Foundation, based in St Albans and Watford is a charity set up by the family of local man, Michael Green, who passed away in December 2012 aged just 53, from a heart attack, a well-recognised complication of type 2 diabetes. Following Michael’s death, his wife, Joanne and their daughter Natalia, then 15 years old, wanted to do something to make people more aware of the dangers of diabetes.

"When Michael died, he'd had type two diabetes for 28 years,” said Joanne. “But he didn’t take it seriously or pay heed to changing his diet and lifestyle.

"Type 2 diabetes can, with the right diet and exercise regime, be managed. If we can raise awareness of this and raise funds through the foundation, then perhaps we can save lives and prevent others from suffering the pain and loss that we experienced.

“I am absolutely delighted that we have raised so much money. A second dietitian is just the latest ambition of the charity, which has already funded a fantastic educational dietetic kitchen and one dietitian so far. I’d like to thank our magnificent volunteers who work so hard to help raise funds.

“For 2017 we already have a theatre production, a charity golf day as well as various social events and a diabetes friendly cookbook.”

Chairman Steve Barnett said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to The Michael Green Diabetes Foundation for their kind donation. Their ongoing support is greatly appreciated and we hope to be able to work closely with them in the future.”

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1. For more information about The Michael Green Diabetes Foundation, please visit: www.michaelgreenfoundation.org or you can follow them on Twitter: @The_MGF.
2. If you would like an interview with Joanne Green, please contact the Communications Team on 01923 436 281.
3. For more information, please contact Name, title in the Trust’s communications department on telephone: 01923 436 281 or email: info@whht.nhs.uk. Out of hours, please call 07900 228 031.
4. West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute trust serving people from across Hertfordshire, north London and further afield. It operates from three sites at Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead hospitals and sees about 600,000 patients a year. We are one of the largest employers locally, with around 4,500 staff and volunteers.