Thrive-abetes; Thrive with Type 1 Diabetes Conference

I was lounging on my couch beside my hubby one Saturday afternoon looking at my registration for Friends for Life UK (FFL) and thinking to myself "Why do I have to go to London to avail of an inspirational and motivational conference like FFL?"

My ever-supportive and crazy-ideas husband said "Sure you could pull off something like that, NO PROBLEM!" Sometimes I wonder about him?

Well that's where the idea for Thrive-abetes; Thrive with Type 1 Diabetes came from.

Well, what is Thrive-abetes?

Thrive-abetes is an abbreviation of “Thrive with Type 1 Diabetes”. It’s a one day conference for parents of children with diabetes and adults living with type 1 diabetes, taking place in Ireland on Saturday the 3rd October 2015. The event is supported by Diabetes Ireland, the national association for people with diabetes in Ireland (Registered Charity No. CHY 6906).

Why do I need this event to take place?

I want to meet more people with type 1 diabetes; I want to hear their stories and draw support from them. I also want to learn more about ways to cope with my type 1 diabetes every day.

I am fortunate enough to meet some people with type 1 diabetes face to face but others are not. Through the amazingness of FaceBook, I've learned that others want what I want. We have done the research to prove it!

This conference is needed because one of the best sources of support and information to families with Type 1 Diabetes is other people with Type 1 Diabetes. We would like a non-virtual place to meet, share and support each other.

This type of event does not exist in Ireland.....until now!

What is Thrive-betes going to offer?

Our Type 1 Diabetes conference is going to focus on the psychological impact of living with a chronic, lifelong illness. We aim to provide “Inspiration, Motivation and Information”  to people living with type 1 diabetes, both parents of children with diabetes and adults at our conference.

We have invited  speakers who are internationally renowned in the diabetes community and we are confident we can attract a minimum of 200 delegates. We are also being supported by Diabetes Ireland, the national association for people with diabetes in Ireland.

You can find out more about Thrive-abetes here.

Why do we need to raise money?

Some of the cost of this conference will be raised through delegate registration and exhibitor fees but we still need to raise €6,000 to ensure that this event takes place.

We have launched a crowdfunding campaign with an Irish company to try and secure as much of this amount as possible. All donations will be directed to Diabetes Ireland (registered charity no. CHY 6906) and would be greatly appreciated.

How can you help?

The success of a crowd-funding campaign depends HUGELY on making as many people as possible aware that the campaign is happening. 

The first thing that people can do to help this conference happen is to post this link; https://www.icrowdfund.ie/campaigns/thrive-abetes-thrive-with-type-1-diabetes-conference/ on your social media page with your reasons why you want this conference to happen.

The next thing I would ask people with type 1 diabetes in Ireland to do is to consider asking your employer to donate to the campaign.

Then, if you can think of any other businesses or employers that would give generously to this campaign, contact them or ask me to contact them on your behalf.

Maybe you don't know of any businesses off-hand but you can also help us by posting on all social media. You can copy my post on Facebook or share it.

Please help us make this happen!!!