When our 6-year-old son, Tristan, was suddenly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last year, one of the ways we coped was by getting super organised. By buying supplies for what we call his "kit", we felt really confident in getting out and about as soon as Tristan was discharged from hospital. We felt organised and safe knowing we had his emergency kit stocked not only with his prescription medication but lots of other items that we had to source and buy.

Every year at Derbyshire Children's Hospital about 75 families find out their child has type 1 diabetes. Often children receive this life-changing diagnosis during a medical emergency. We want to help the families of newly diagnosed children by fundraising to buy starter kits, just like Tristan's. We hope this will take some of the pressure off families reeling from discovering type 1 diabetes has found its way into their life. And we hope that children can get back to their (new) normal as soon as they can by getting out and about knowing they have items thoughtfully put together to make managing diabetes easier.

Here's what our kits will contain and why:

1. Small, sturdy bag with lots of pockets and a handle.

2. Medical equipment stickers so others know to handle the kit and medical devices with care.

3. Medical ID bracelets, which we encourage my son to wear if we're out and about in busy places. This lets others know the child is insulin dependent if they need medical help.

4. Mini reusable sharps box because we can't take our big sharps bin from home! Before my son received his insulin pump, we used up to 6 needles a day. Now we occasionally have needles to dispose of safely and still use lots of finger-prick lancets.

5. Mini calculator because we didn't want our young son using smart phones more than he needed to, so we bought a simple calculator instead. This is needed for carb counting all meals and snacks.

6. Mini timer for the same reason as above. This is needed to monitor the necessary wait between insulin dosing and eating.

7. Small notebooks and a small pen for calculating carb content on the go and for providing itemised carb counts in my son's packed lunch at school.

8. Lift fast-acting glucose juice, which is needed to manage blood glucose levels during exercise and treat hypoglycaemia. This can be sourced on prescription but it takes a little while to organise. Providing some in the kits takes the pressure off and helps children try different fast-acting glucose flavours to find their favourite.

9. Measuring cups because little children only need small amounts of Lift juice and accurate dosing is better (for example, we need to accurately measure between 5ml and 15ml for Tristan).

10. And more as funds and the power of bulk buying allow!

We're confident that leaving hospital with this starter kit, which supports the hospital-provided medical supplies (insulin, injection pens, finger prick testing equipment), means families can spend their time and energy on dealing with the new diagnosis and not worrying about if they'll have everything they need at home to get organised and get out and about again. Having lived through this, we know what is useful in a kit and what we wouldn't buy again! The nursing team at the hospital have confirmed to us that these kits would be incredibly useful to help families dealing with a new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.

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