Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, this week welcomed two young constituents, Joe Frost and Lewis Sherwood, to Parliament in order to discuss Type 1 diabetes.
Thirteen year old Joe, from Wombourne, and nine year old Lewis, from Brinsford, are both T1 Youth Ambassadors for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
They came to Parliament as part of a national initiative, which was organised by the charity to help raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes.
Lewis was just four years old when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and Joe was only nine.
Joes and Lewis both spoke to Gavin about their experiences of Type 1 diabetes and told him more about JDRF’s ‘Count Me In’ campaign.
Following the meeting, Gavin wrote to the Minister of State for Universities and Science, Mr. David Willetts MP, to request more funding for Type 1 diabetes research to help find a cure for patients living with the condition.
Gavin said: “I greatly enjoyed meeting with Joe and Lewis and was incredibly moved by what they told me about their experiences living with Type 1 diabetes.
“It was fascinating to learn more about how this condition can affect young lives. We can never do enough to help these young people, but I have called on Ministers to provide more funding to support children with Type 1 diabetes, like Joe and Lewis, to find better treatments and ultimately the cure that they need to live a normal life.”
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic and challenging condition. The exact cause is unclear, but it is not linked to lifestyle or diet.
A child diagnosed with it at the age of five faces up to 19,000 insulin injections and 50,000 finger prick tests by the time they are 18. The condition affects 400,000 people in the UK – equivalent to more than 600 people in every constituency – and incidence is growing rapidly, particularly in those under five years old.