We're delighted to welcome Dr Carol Homden CBE to Diabetes UK as our new Chair of Trustees. In her own words, here she describes the impact diabetes has had on her own family and outlines her ambitions for her new role.
"It was a shock but not a surprise when my son was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes earlier this year. He is autistic with learning difficulties and has struggled to control his weight throughout his twenties. And then lockdown happened. Less exercise, more boredom, more weight.
"It was a regular health screen that picked it up and I – like so many families across the country every day – immediately turned to Diabetes UK for the information and advice that we needed to understand what was happening and what we should do.
"I have long been aware that there was risk and of some of the consequences of diabetes, having worked closely with a colleague living with type 1 diabetes. In my work as Chief Executive of Coram, the oldest children’s charity, which provides wellbeing education to hundreds of thousands of children across the UK, I have been growing increasingly concerned at the risks for our young people and of health inequalities compounded by the pandemic. But now it is personal as well as professional.
"The diabetes specialist nurse was soon in action and – with us working with the dedicated supported living team – Freddy has lost 9.5kg (1.5st) and is in remission. We are of course only too well aware that we are at the start of a lifetime’s journey and of the vital importance of more research into all types of diabetes, so that we can move forward to a world where diabetes can do no harm.
"I am, therefore, honoured and delighted to be appointed as the new Chair and to join Diabetes UK during the centenary of the discovery of insulin and at a key moment of change. I bring with me an eagerness to learn and to use my skills from my professional background. I was formerly the Commercial Director of The Prince’s Trust, the Director of Marketing and Public Affairs for The British Museum, and the Director of Marketing and Communications at the University of Westminster.
"I bring with me my personal experience of living with complex conditions and also of being Chair for the last 10 years of the National Autistic Society, a large and distributed UK-wide charity combining information and advice, with delivery of schools and services and a network of 116 branches. Before that, I chaired The Avenues Trust which provides community and residential services for adults with learning difficulties. I continue to serve as a trustee of the Association of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (ACAMHs), which publishes the leading Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and supports professional development and dissemination of research.
"It is a privilege to take up the baton as Chair of Diabetes UK from Sir Peter Dixon after such a distinguished and dedicated service and I hugely look forward to working with Chris Askew OBE, the Executive Team and all our staff and volunteers, whose work has never been more vital.
"I join a dynamic board with great expertise and experience and along with a group of impressive new trustees. It will be our job to support all in Diabetes UK to anticipate and respond to the needs of people living with diabetes, to support and work in partnership with healthcare professionals, and to pursue outstanding research so that together we can pursue our vision – to create a world where diabetes can do no harm.
"I am excited to see how I can help champion our cause to gain greater awareness of diabetes and raise funds for our work, connecting ever more strongly with diverse communities as we together find our way beyond the pandemic.
"Thank you to everyone who is supporting, volunteering, and working at Diabetes UK. I look forward to learning more about all you are doing and for the opportunity to work with you as we write the next chapter in our continuing story."
Dr Carol Homden CBE
