Living with Type 2 diabetes can involve a lot of information, appointments, checks, results, advice and different healthcare professionals.
The information exists. The care exists. But that does not always mean somebody understands how the different pieces fit together, what they should expect, why something matters or where to go next.
At the time of writing in 2026, Mum knew very little about what diabetes actually meant beyond the fact that she had it. And when I started helping her, I wasn’t much better. I mainly worried about how much sugar she was eating.
It was only as I became more involved in her care that I started discovering everything else around diabetes: eye screening, foot health, HbA1c, circulation, the effect on different parts of the body, education programmes and the different people involved in her care.
And much of that information didn’t arrive as one clear journey. We stumbled across it piece by piece.
There are different stages, checks and decisions along the way. We want to make it easier for people to understand where they are in that journey, what should have happened, what might come next and where to go for the right information and support.
Where am I now?
What should I know?
What should I expect?
Why does it matter?
Who can help me?
We’re looking at national guidance alongside what is available locally: what someone should know, the appointments and checks they may encounter, the professionals and services around them, how referrals work and where the journey may become unclear or disconnected.
We’re also looking elsewhere where information or support is explained particularly well.
We’re working with Link UP London, a charity that connects charities and social good organisations with Skilled Volunteers who can share their expertise, to bring skilled research support into this stage of the programme.
Link UP will provide Skilled Volunteers to help us develop a research report, exploring what the programme should contain, how it should be structured and where We’re Good can add something genuinely useful.
Link UP supports charities and social good organisations across London with free, practical skills support. If your organisation could benefit from Skilled Volunteering, find out more at linkuplondon.org.
