Great Smeaton Young Farmers

 On a wonderful spring evening in April the Chairman Les Helme and the Secretary Rita Wells arrived at the home of Mr Andrew Carvey and his wife.

The farm is beef/sheep and arable on the outskirts of Northallerton, North Yorkshire. The evening was the annual stock judging evening and an opportunity for the Young Farmers to practice how to judge beef animals and give their reasons for the placement to the Judge.

The night's event was also an opportunity for the members to hand over to our chairman a cheque for £306.75p. This money was raised by the members of the young farmers club at their annual ball.

To raise this amount of money takes commitment of the whole club, not just a few, and the Diabetic Club are very grateful for this fantastic amount. Mr Carvey, a diabetic himself for many years, had asked when he took office as President of the young farmer's club, that the money raised from this event should go for local use at the Diabetic club.

Mr Helme told the members a little about the club and what it did and said that money raised by the members of the young farmers club would go towards helping children affected by diabetes to attend Marick Priory for a holiday.

A very big thank you to the Young Farmers for all their hard work in helping children who through no fault of their own need daily injections of insulin. The money raised does help others and was kept in the local area. Many many thanks.

Rita Wells

MARRICK CHILDRENS DIABETES HOLIDAY

The Northallerton diabetes club has once again helped out children and
young people with diabetes who attend the Friarage  Hospital by generously subsidising the annual diabetes holiday to Marrick Priory. 
Marrick Priory is a 12^th Century Benedictine Priory on the banks of the river Swale near to Reeth which was converted to a Residential outdoor pursuits centre.  
This year the trip took place from 26^th - 28^th July. Eight children
and young people aged 9 - 14years attended, together with 22 children from York and Middlesbrough, members of their diabetes teams and some
volunteer staff helpers from the children's wards. Some of the
children who attended had recently been diagnosed, others have had diabetes for a long time and some were using insulin pump therapy.
The Children arrived around 2pm and got to know each other with some icebreaking games and activities. After tea, they completed a nightline walk, which the children complete blindfolded and follow a rope guide, this helps to team build and install trust in each other. There was a fun Quiz after this with some general knowledge and some questions about Diabetes management, the winning team being awarded with a £5 gift voucher each. 
The Children slept in bunkbeds in dormatories for boys and girls. The first night is always a late one as the children are so excited about being away from home with their friends that they usually take a while to settle down to sleep. Staff from the Diabetes Teams check on the children and, if necessary, monitor blood glucose levels overnight.
The following morning, After Breakfast and their usual diabetes routines the children shared tidying up duties and were split into 3 groups with a leader from the Priory to show them how to complete the activities safely, and a minimum of 2 hospital staff to be with them at all times. Emergency equipment, medications and supplies of glucose and snacks is always carried.
Activities were split into 3 - Ropes course & Archery, Zipwire & indoor rock climbing on the climbing wall and canoeing. Each group did a
different activity on the morning and then moved around on the afternoon, completing the last activity the following morning. Much fun was had trying to burst balloons on the targets at archery and getting as wet as possible on the lake in the canoes with some fun games as well! The children learned how activities and exercise can affect their blood glucose levels, how important it is to keep a check on their levels and also what to do if they were low and how they might need to adjust their insulin doses. We were also encouraging the children to count the carbohydrate value of their food so that they could adjust their insulin for what they were eating as well as what they were doing.
After tea on the second night there was a walk which also incorporated a treasure hunt and some diabetes tasks such as measuring blood glucose levels in the middle of a field and responding to the results if necessary.
It was a lot easier to get the children to settle on the 2^nd night, though the staff were still kept busy checking them as all the activities led to a few low glucose readings through the night!
Overall a good time was had by all - the children enjoyed meeting peers with diabetes and discussing how they cope and manage with things/sharing tips and knowledge and making new friends. They received certificates for their achievements and a small prize before they departed home
We are already looking forward to next years trip!
On behalf of the diabetes team here at the Friarage, we would like to extend our thanks to the Diabetes club for their continuing support in providing a valuable and rewarding holiday for our children.

Julie Stonehouse
Childrens Diabetes Nurse