I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 4 on Friday the 13th of March. As of this year, I will have been living a VERY FULL life with type 1 diabetes for 25 years.

Although type 1 diabetes has been a burden (causing me a lot of anxiety and health issues), I am incredibly privileged to have made it this far and to live in a country that provides me with healthcare which does not break my bank account. This is so much more than many of my brothers and sisters around the world who live with - or cannot survive - the same condition I have.

Even in 2017, nearly 100 years after insulin was discovered and used in a human, many do not survive a diagnosis of diabetes - if they are diagnosed at all. This injustice has become my life's work, and I can think of no better way to mark this especially significant diabetes anniversary (diaversary) than asking for donations to a charity run by people with type 1 diabetes for people with type 1 diabetes to create a world where everyone with type 1 diabetes survives and has the chance to achieve their dreams.

If you can donate £25 in honor of each year I have lived with type 1, I would be so grateful. Even £5 would be a fantastic show of support. 

Your donation will go towards T1International's advocacy work, which I am very proud to have led these past few years, including workshops to give young people the knowledge and skills to make change in their own communities.