On 3rd March 2017 we headed to Center Parcs for the weekend for a Tranisition Residential with a group of young people with Type 1 Diabetes along with Jen & Vreni from the Diabetes Team.
The aim of the weekend was to prepare the young people as they move on to Adult Services through workshops, discussion and providing the opportunity to meet and socialise with other teenagers living with diabetes. From the very first session on the Friday night we knew we were in for a fantastic weekend together. Despite never having met before, each of the young people made a real effort to get to know one another and there was a brilliant atmosphere throughout the whole weekend!
On the Saturday morning the group were split in to two groups and set off on a “Come Dine With Me” challenge in which they were given a set amount of money and had to plan a three course meal for the evening. Not only did they have to work within a budget but they also had to think about creativity, presentation and a healthy nutritional balance. After some extensive discussion the groups came up with their menus and with Jen our lovely dietician supervising, the pressure was truly on!
In the afternoon we were visited by Nic, one of the nurses from the Adult Diabetes Team, and the young people were given the opportunity to ask questions and share any worries they had about transition. The session provided a lot of useful information and afterwards the young people stated how much better prepared they felt having met Nic and having discussed concerns with their peers. We were also lucky to have a visit from Josie, Diabetes Consultant, to answer questions and support the group in their environment.
The Come Dine With Me challenge proved extremely successful; the two groups did a fantastic job and cooked up some very impressive food. There was only one tiny/huge blip when one of the groups set fire to their chocolate brownie. Thankfully the brownie was recovered and actually tasted delicious (if a little chargrilled).
On Sunday the group participated in workshops around Alcohol Awareness, Sex & Healthy Relationships and Driving and how having Type 1 Diabetes impacts each of these things. It was a brilliant morning with a lot of belly laughs and, more importantly, excellent dicussion. Many of the young people fed-back that they’d found this session extremely valuable and had learnt a lot about how to better manage their diabetes in the future.
The weekend was such a huge success that we recently met up at Griddle & Shake in Nottingham for a burger and a catch-up. It’s amazing to see the friendships that have been made and it’s evident just what a positive impact the Transition Residential has had on the lives of the young people. It really shows just how important having people you can talk to, that understand what you’re going through is.
Well done to everyone involved!
