Living With Type 1 Diabetes with Ruth Collin

In this episode of The Long View – Living with Type 1 Diabetes, I'm talking to Paul White, CEO of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower programme. You may have seen the familiar green lanyard with its bright yellow sunflowers in airports, shops, train stations and workplaces around the world. But how did a simple symbol become a global movement helping people with non-visible disabilities feel recognised, understood and supported?

In this episode of The Long View - Living with Type 1 Diabetes, I’m talking to Melissa Slemp. She's a coach, podcaster and author. Diagnosed as a teenager in the early 1980s, Melissa spent years living with Type 1 without fully understanding the condition or its long‑term implications. Now a coach, podcast host and author of a new book, "Highs, Lows & Hormones", Melissa is passionate about helping women manage diabetes, hormones and midlife - a topic that’s still not talked about enough.

In this episode of The Long View – Living with Type 1 Diabetes, I’m talking to Pete Lambert about his extraordinary story of resilience, burnout and recovery. Diagnosed at just 18 months old, Pete has lived with Type 1 for more than 40 years. In this conversation he tells about the emotional and mental toll of long‑term diabetes management, including his experience of diabetes burnout. Pete also opens up about one of his lowest points when he lost his sight for a month due to complications, and how, just three years later, he went on to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

In this episode of The Long View – Living with Type 1 Diabetes, I’m talking to Robyn Hawkins, a researcher looking at how people manage Type 1 at work and at university. Her research looks at how the everyday realities often go unseen, from telling people about your diabetes, to handling hypos while commuting and coping in busy workplaces and shared spaces. Robyn tells us what her research reveals about stigma, awareness and the small changes that could make a big difference to people living and working with Type 1.

In this episode of The Long View – Living with Type 1 Diabetes, I’m talking to Gareth Squance, whose daughter Amelie was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes just two months before we recorded. This episode is a little different, as Gareth also turns the questions on me. We talk about the differences between a brand‑new diagnosis and living with Type 1 for 50 years and what both parents and young people need most in the early stages.