Local Diabetes unit chosen as Mayoral charity for year

The Right Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor Margaret Tolerton pictured with Hilda Francey, Diabetes Specialist Nurse; Dr Simon Au and the Diabetes Team at Lagan Valley Hospital, Lisburn.

The charity is the Diabetes Service at the local Lagan Valley Hospital. As someone who has diabetes, the Mayor is a regular attendee at the Unit and she knows the hospital staff well.

She chose the charity to help raise funds for the valuable work the Diabetes Team carries out in the wider Lisburn community.

“I chose this charity as so many people are affected by diabetes and many sufferers live with far-reaching problems brought about by diabetes as well as the diabetes condition itself,” said the Mayor.

“All of us know someone who is affected by this condition. I have attended the clinic at Lagan Valley Hospital over many years and seen young people, adults, middle-aged people and older citizens go through the doors of the Hospital. Our health ebbs and flows; when you are functioning well things are good, but when the condition affects your everyday activities things can be very difficult indeed. Diabetes does not discriminate, it can and does strike at any age,” she said.

The Mayor is keen to emphasise that money raised will not be a replacement for statutory funding but will be used to make a real difference in people’s lives.

Hilda Francey is a Diabetes Specialist Nurse at the Outpatients Department in the Lagan Valley Hospital. She said: “It is fantastic for us that the Mayor, whom we all know as just Margaret, has chosen to support our work. Margaret is an example of a person who will make the best of things and who will keep on working and going about her business. She is very friendly with all the staff here, and we know she has had her own struggles with health, which of course makes a person value it all the more.

“We are so pleased that as part of the local community and the local Lisburn area to be the Mayor’s nominated charity. We believe our work touches so many people and we hope that we will have the opportunity to raise the profile of the important work we do, and more importantly about this condition.”

The Mayor has established a cross party charity committee and is hopeful that colleagues, friends, businesses and local people will get behind this worthy cause.