October 2012 For immediate release

Diabetes support workshops at Leeds Met

The first of five workshops designed to help young people with type 1 diabetes will get underway on Saturday at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Forty participants aged 9-17 will engage in the session which will take place from 10.30am-3.30pm at the Universitys Headingley campus. The workshops which will be held on dates leading up to December, are organised and hosted by Getting Sorted, Leeds Mets award-winning enterprise unit which specialises in participatory research with children and young people with type 1 diabetes, their families and healthcare professionals. The aim of the unit is to develop, influence and enhance service redesign and service improvement for diabetes in the UK. Liz Webster, Director of Getting Sorted, commented: This is our second series of Yorkshire-based workshops to be held this year. All five sessions will involve the same group, giving the participants a unique opportunity to meet and interact with other young people with type 1 diabetes from around the region. Previous workshops have proved a great support system for young people and have provided Getting Sorted with vital feedback such as what they as a group and individuals feel is lacking in diabetes healthcare. We as a service can then feed this information back to relevant bodies including the NHS. The sessions also give those taking part the chance to share experiences and get advice and answers to questions that they may have previously found

difficult to ask. Saturdays workshop will be about the group getting to know each other, ensuring they each feel safe, comfortable and can work well together.

The second workshop which will be held on October 20 will aim to help the young people feel in control of their diabetes and become more independent and responsible. It will focus on their relationships with their parents, friends and their condition. Workshop three on November 10, will tackle the theme of communication and will strive to help the group improve their relationships with their peers, family and professionals. The fourth workshop will be held on November 24 and has been designed to help enhance the participants selfesteem and sense of self-worth in working towards gaining a positive body image. The final session on December 8 will utilise a storytelling technique to enable the group to reflect on their own personal journey through the workshops.

If you would like to be kept informed about future Getting Sorted workshops and events to be held in 2013, contact gettingsorted@leedsmet.ac.uk

Ends

For further details please contact Julia Williams in the Communications team at Leeds Met on 0113 812 5978 or email j.t.williams@leedsmet.ac.uk

Notes for editors: Leeds Metropolitan University has over 25,000 students and around 3, 000 staff. The Vice Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University is Professor Susan Price and the Chair of the Board is Lord Woolmer of Leeds. Leeds Metropolitans four faculties are: Arts, Environment and Technology, Business & Law, Health and Social Sciences, and Carnegie.

Leeds Metropolitans heritage can be traced back to the founding of the Mechanics Institute in Leeds in 1824.