By Jane ElliottBBC NewsLouise Bodeker was diagnosed with TYPE 1 DIABETES

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Jane ElliottBBC NewsLouise Bodeker was diagnosed with TYPE 1 DIABETES

By Jane ElliottBBC NewsLouise Bodeker was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 14.For the first six months she injected her insulin openly, but a crass remark by a fellow pupil on a school trip changed all that. "I had to inject halfway up a mountain doing adventurous things and I had to inject in front of everyone," said Louise, who is from Oxfordshire. "One of the lads made a massive thing of it saying: ‘Why do you have to do that in front of everybody It’s gross.’" Louise’s confidence was knocked and it was a long time before she felt happy injecting in public again. Worried by the experience of Louise, 18, and teenagers like her, the charity Diabetes UK has launched a short viral video called Setting the Record Straight, which is aimed at teaching children and young people the truth about Type 1 Diabetes."I go out for a meal and I have to do my insulin at the table… the looks I get are quite disturbing"KatieA viral is a video that spreads quickly via the internet and has been used successfully by a number of companies for advertising their products – from eyebrow-wiggling children to advertise chocolate bars, to impromptu dances in stations to promote mobile phones. Amanda Neylon, Diabetes UK digital media manager, said it hoped its video, which shows a group of teenagers teasing a young girl about her condition, will have a good saturation among young people. This is the second time Diabetes UK has used viral videos, although this is the first time one is aimed at those without the condition as well as those with diabetes. "We had a good response last time and a lot of comments from people wanting us to make clear about the distinctions between Type 1 and 2."The anti-bullying viral video is a different way of letting young people know more about Type 1 diabetes and helping them understand that other young people with the condition should not be singled out or victimised," she said. "We know that young people are especially receptive to new technologies and we are always keen to use the internet and social networking sites to communicate with them." The film is available on YouTube, social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, and the Diabetes UK website. It can also be directly embedded into websites or blogs. Libby Dowling, a care adviser with Diabetes UK, said that when it had asked young people for their feedback about living with the condition, many had been hurt by misconceptions about Type 1. "What we really need to do is to raise the awareness around children with Type 1 diabetes," she said. "It is still quite a misunderstood condition. There are still a lot of myths and misconceptions and downright discrimination. "In the media there is an awful lot about children being overweight and the link to that and developing Type 2. "That is an important message to get across. "But we have to remember that the vast majority of children with diabetes have Type 1, and that is nothing at all to do with being overweight or lifestyle factors. "It is something that could not be prevented and it is important that we do not ignore the needs of this big group of young people."Type 1 FactsType 1 diabetes – also known as insulin-dependent diabetes – develops in those whose bodies are unable to produce insulinClassed as an autoimmune disease, Type 1 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes in children, affecting up to 95% of under-16s who have the diseaseUnlike Type 2 diabetes – which is more common in adults – Type 1 diabetes is not related to lifestyle factorsShe added: "Nowadays young people are texting and e-mailing. The traditional leafleting that I grew up with are just not appropriate." She said that young people with diabetes have been dubbed "druggies" or taunted about their lifestyle. Seventeen-year-old Katie, from Merseyside, said her teacher made her inject in the school toilets to avoid offending others and she was warned her needles might be considered a weapon. "That knocked my confidence," said Katie. "It is a type of bullying. Other students were saying they did not want me to do my insulin around them as it made them feel sick. "I want to say if you don’t like looking at it don’t look. "People said things like ‘do you have the one where you have too much sugar or too little’ "They ask questions like: ‘Were you fat Or have you eaten too many jammy dodgers’ and I get comments and funny looks when I inject. "I go out for a meal and I have to do my insulin at the table. They liken it to drug abuse and the looks I get are quite disturbing."

Prince marks D-Day with veterans
Prince Charles is to join Normandy veterans in marking the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings at a series of events in northern France.He will meet Royal British Legion and Normandy Veterans’ Association members. Some 130,000 allied troops took part in the landings, starting the offensive which would end World War II in Europe. Charles will join Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama at an event at the Normandy America Cemetery. He will travel after a last-minute invitation from the French government, which denied it had intended to snub the Royal Family after failing to invite the Queen to the commemorations. The prince was also present at the 60th anniversary commemorations in France. See a map of the D-day landingsMore than 9,000 men were laid to rest in the cemetery, close to Colleville-Sur-Mer – codenamed Omaha beach in 1944. It was one of five beaches targeted at the start of the allied invasion on German-occupied France. The main British memorial event will take place at the Arromanches beaches, where thousands of UK and Canadian troops came ashore on 6 June 1944, and during the following days. The prince will join members of the Royal British Legion for a service of remembrance at Bayeux Cathedral.D-DAY COMMEMORATIONSRoyal British Legion service of remembrance, Bayeux CathedralNormandy Veterans’ Association Service of Remembrance, Bayeux Commonwealth War Graves Committee CemeteryRoyal British Legion reception at Hotel Chateau de Belle Fontaine, BayeuxD-Day landings commemoration, Normandy America Cemetery, Colleville-sur-MerWorld War I veteran turns 113He will then lay a wreath and meet veterans’ association members at the Commonwealth War Graves Committee Cemetery in the town, before going on to a legion reception. Of more than 4,500 headstones at the site, almost 4,000 mark the graves of British servicemen. As the veterans’ association makes its last group visit to mark the anniversary, with its membership dwindling, celebrations in the UK will mark the birthday of the UK’s oldest surviving ex-serviceman. World War I veteran Henry Allingham – who is Britain’s oldest man – turns 113. The former Royal Navy Air Service and RAF serviceman will be honoured with a party aboard HMS President in London. Events to mark the D-Day anniversary began on Friday, when a landing craft from 1 Assault Group Royal Marines arrived at Port au Bessin to replicate the beginning of the allied offensive. It was followed by a mass drop of British parachutists, which mirrored the manoeuvre which allowed British to troops to take the strategically-important Pegasus Bridge, near Caen. Veterans continued to attend commemorations through the day. Click here to returnThis article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Flint’s ‘window dressing’ attack
Former Europe Minister Caroline Flint has launched a blistering attack on Gordon Brown for treating women ministers as "female window dressing". Ms Flint is angry that she stood by Mr Brown but he failed to promote her to full cabinet minister status. She accused Mr Brown of running a "two-tier" government with an "inner" cabinet circle. She is being replaced by ex MEP Glenys Kinnock, wife of former Labour leader Neil, who will enter the Lords. Here is the full text of Ms Flint’s resignation letter. "Dear Gordon, I believe the achievements of the Labour Government to date have been monumental and you have played an immense part in the creation of those achievements. However, I am extremely disappointed at your failure to have an inclusive Government. You have a two tier Government. Your inner circle and then the remainder of Cabinet. I have the greatest respect for the women who have served as full members of Cabinet and for those who attend as and when required. However, few are allowed into your inner circle. Several of the women attending Cabinet – myself included – have been treated by you as little more than female window dressing. I am not willing to attend Cabinet in a peripheral capacity any longer. In my current role, you advised that I would attend Cabinet when Europe was on the agenda. I have only been invited once since October and not to a single political Cabinet – not even the one held a few weeks before the European elections. Having worked hard during this campaign, I would not have been party to any plan to undermine you or the Labour Party in the run up to 4 June. So I was extremely angry and disappointed to see newspapers briefed with invented stories of my involvement in a "Pugin Room plot". Time and time again I have stepped before the cameras to sincerely defend your reputation in the interests of the Labour Party and the Government as a whole. I am a natural party loyalist. Yet you have strained every sinew of that loyalty. It has been apparent for some time that you do not see me playing a more influential role in the Government. Therefore, I have respectfully declined your offer to continue in the Government as Minister for Europe attending Cabinet. I served six years as a backbencher and, therefore, I am not unhappy to be able to devote myself to promoting my constituency’s interests and to support the Labour Government from the backbenches. This is a personal decision, which I have not discussed with colleagues. Yours Rt Hon Caroline Flint MP"

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