In 1989, Douglas Cairns was a British Royal Air Force jet pilot at the age of 25 when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and consequently lost his flying career. In 2000 he regained the freedom to fly in the USA as a licenced private pilot, and then went on to complete "Diabetes World Flight" in 2003, the first round-the-world flight by a pilot with type 1 diabetes. Douglas continues to fly exciting flying projects in the UK and USA and is an avid advocate for Pilots With Diabetes.

Sophie Cairns has been a T3 spouse for seven years. Originally from Hong Kong, Sophie began climbing mountains in 2009 to raise funds for cancer research, and in 2013-14 climbed the highest volcano on each continent (including Mount Sidley in Antarctica). Her book on the adventure, Climbing the Seven Volcanoes, was published last month. Sophie has a great love for animals and has founded an animal micro-sanctuary with Douglas. She currently works as a Life Sciences analyst.

Ian Craigie studied Medicine in Sydney, Australia, and first practised as a paediatrician there, before journeying to his ancestral home of Scotland in 1992. Having settled in Glasgow, he has made his home here in Scotland, and in 1998 started working in the Greater Glasgow & Clyde Children's Diabetes Service. Since then, Ian has continued to care and advocate for children and young people with diabetes, both locally, nationally and internationally. He is currently the Clinical Lead for the service, one of the largest in the United Kingdom. When not at work he enjoys photography, travel, hill walking and spending time with his family, both here and Down Under.

Edward Damiano, PhD, is Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University (BU) and President & CEO of Beta Bionics. Over the years, his lab at BU engaged in basic scientific research that combined aspects of fluid dynamics and solid mechanics with experimental techniques to study various topics in mathematical biology. In addition to his basic science research, he has also been committed to building a bionic pancreas for automatically controlling blood sugar levels in people with T1D. Ever since his 22-year-old son, David, was diagnosed with T1D in infancy, he has set his sights on creating a bihormonal (insulin and glucagon) bionic pancreas by building and integrating autonomous intelligent systems into a purpose-built, wearable medical device. He and his engineering team at BU began conducting experiments testing an early prototype of their bionic pancreas running on a laptop computer in animal studies in 2005. Since 2008, he and his team at BU, along with clinical collaborators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), conducted nearly 20 clinical trials in adults and children with diabetes or other conditions of glycemic dysregulation. By the end of 2015, the bionic pancreas and associated technology was licensed to Beta Bionics, Inc., a Massachusetts Public Benefit Corporation, which was co-founded by Damiano. Through a collaborative effort between Beta Bionics, Damiano’s lab at BU, 18 clinical research centres across the US, and the Jaeb Center for Health Research, a 13-week randomized, controlled, clinical trial is currently underway that is testing the bionic pancreas in 440 adults and children with T1D. The goal is to use the clinical data from this trial to support a market application for the bionic pancreas to the US Food and Drug Administration.

Mark graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 1998 with a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Prior to this he worked as a Research Psychologist at St George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London. Since June 2000 he has worked at Belfast City Hospital where he provides a clinical psychology service to people with diabetes and the healthcare professionals who care for them across Belfast Health & Social Care Trust. Most his working time is spent talking to people with diabetes about a wide range of psychological issues that can impair their ability or willingness to look after their diabetes. In addition, he provides supervision and training to a range of healthcare professionals both locally and nationally. He has published widely. He has recently supervised a Diabetes UK funded project exploring why people living with diabetes choose not to attend structured education programmes and a feasibility study of an intervention for people who present with high levels of diabetes distress. He is particularly interested person-centred practice and is a member of the Knuston Ireland faculty, which runs an empowerment and counselling skills training course each year for diabetes healthcare professionals across Ireland.  

Dr Gibb graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School in 2000. He undertook specialist training in Endocrinology & Diabetes in Edinburgh between 2005 and 2012. He was appointed to a Consultant post in Endocrinology & Diabetes in 2012 at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. His clinical interests include the management of type 1 diabetes, inpatient diabetes care, general endocrinology and the management of differentiated thyroid cancer.

Dr Gibb was awarded a PhD, from the University of Edinburgh, for research examining the metabolic effects of sex steroid hormones and has a number of active clinical research projects. He is currently Secretary-Treasurer of the Caledonian Society for Endocrinology & Diabetes and Chair of the Type 1 Diabetes subgroup of the Scottish Diabetes Group.

Jackie Jacombs first became involved in the CWD USA parent's mailing list shortly after her daughter Sasha was diagnosed with diabetes in 1999. There were no equivalent supporting mailing lists or websites in the UK. Jackie asked CWD Founder, Jeff Hitchcock, if he would set up a mailing list for UK families. This was the start of a strong on-line community of families in the UK. They now have a committed Facebook group which replaced the UK mailing list. The UK Children with Diabetes Advocacy Group was formed in 2007 to advocate for better care, especially in schools and better access to new technology. There are annual family weekends away for families to meet each other and parents who live near each other, arrange to meet up with their children in the holidays. Various parents of the Facebook group continue to work and support the work of JDRF, Diabetes UK, and DRWF whenever possible. Jackie’s daughter Sasha, is now 27 years old and is now a scientist working at a pharmaceutical company. She would like to do more in research. Her identical twin sister does not have type 1 diabetes. She is working in London as a Lawyer. Both the twins have attended several Conferences in the past and really loved them. When they were older they helped out at the FFL conferences and really enjoyed helping. 

Terry Jacombs is husband of Jackie and dad of four daughters, the youngest two being identical twins, one of whom, Sasha, was diagnosed with type 1 just before her fifth birthday. She is now a 27 year old biomedical scientist and since she left home for University in 2012. The day to day involvement with diabetes management has been replaced with long distance concern, which thankfully has not resulted in anything significant. In Terry’s previous life he was an IT Director with a large UK financial institution. Since retirement he has enjoyed cycling (now curtailed through the vagaries of aging!) and walking, genealogical research and some computer games (of the strategic variety, not shoot-em up action type), and generally staying in touch with IT. Terry and Jackie try to get together with all their family as often as they can. One of their grandchildren, who lives close by, is handed over to them most Wednesdays and often other times, which reminds both Terry and Jackie how much hard work and pleasure young children are.

Brian Kennon was appointed as an adult consultant diabetologist in 2004. He works at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland and his sub-speciality interests include transitional care, diabetes foot disease and technology enabled care. He is also interested in developing person-centred care models and a societal approach to wellbeing. As national lead for diabetes in Scotland he has been involved in the implementation of the Diabetes Improvement Plan with the aim of improving the care of persons with diabetes across Scotland. He is also chair of the Scottish Diabetes Innovations and Technologies group which aims to improve adoption of innovative solutions to improving care and outcomes. Brian is the proud father of 2 sons aged 4 years and 18 months and personal interests include football, walking, open water swimming and cycling. 

Fiona Kennon is a Systemic Family Therapist working in the North West of England, who has lived with T1 for over 44 years. Fiona started her working life as a teacher of Modern Languages and now combines her teaching experience and family therapy role as a course tutor on the Masters’ level qualification in Family Therapy through the University of Manchester. For the last five years, her clinical practice has been working with inpatients with a diagnosed Eating Disorder (ED) and their families at the Priory Hospital Manchester. Initial curiosity about the disproportionately high number of patients being admitted who had both an ED and T1 led to concern when Fiona discovered the level of this problem among the T1 community and the paucity of specialist understanding and interventions available. Despite the existence of over 30 years of research recognising the impact and seriousness of the problem, so-called “diabulimia” remains unrecognised in the ICD-10. Fiona’s belief is that T1 is a family concern rather than an individual problem and this led her to undertake research into the experiences of parents parenting a child with diabulimia. This is the first piece of research into this aspect of diabulimia and is currently being preparing for publication. Fiona would like to do more research into how family therapy can support families affected by a diagnosis of T1 diabetes and recently contributed to a Diabetes UK intervention to support families. Fiona is committee member of the charity DWED (Diabetics with Eating Disorders), on whose behalf she administers support groups for patients and families and gives talks about “diabulimia” (T1ED) to interested professionals. Outside work, she enjoys Scottish country dancing, reading, music and trying to get fit. Fiona and her husband Steve are parents to Duncan (24), Donald (22) and Alice (18).

Jude Kennon has been a Diabetes Specialist Nurse for 8 years. Having graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2010, Jude started her career in medical receiving at Victoria Infirmary Hospital, Glasgow. Here Jude learned about the acute side of diabetes and its complications. Thereafter, Jude moved to a diabetes ward at Gartnavel General Hospital, where she gained further experience in diabetes and successfully applied for her current role as a Diabetes Specialist Nurse, initially working at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, and now at the New Victoria Hospital, Glasgow. Specialist interests include transition care, psychological impact of diabetes, health literacy, and health inequalities. Jude is the proud mummy of Dylan (4) and Harrison (18 months), and her personal hobbies and interests include music, walking, open water swimming, dancing and all things Disney!

Scott Kyllo lives in British Columbia, Canada. He has two adult children, Alyssa and Chad. Their path along the diabetes road started in 1996 when his son, Chad, then age two, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when they were residing in Bahrain in the Middle East. The World Wide Web had just arrived in Bahrain and it brought to the Kyllo’s the safety of the Children with Diabetes family. Two years later, when life was becoming somewhat comfortable and routine, Alyssa, then age 7, was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Chad was also diagnosed with celiac disease in 2001. The family attended their first Friends For Life conference in 2002. Getting to meet the CWDers in person was like Christmas in July! Scott is a Chief Information Officer by day and an Aircraft Engineer by night maintaining a Piper Cherokee and a Mooney. These skills and his “MacGyver” qualities keep him running at the Friends For Life conferences as its Information Technology and Audio/Visual support person. He is a strong advocate of Friends For Life conferences and believes anyone with a connection to diabetes should attend at least one... although warns that the conferences are much like potato chips—it’s hard to stop at just one! Scott also helps to run the T-1 Today UK Dad's discussion group.

Alistair is a Consultant in Diabetes and Acute General Medicine in Oxford. As a sports fan, he developed an interested in the management of type 1 for exercise while working for Dr Ian Gallen, and undertook research into the management of insulin pump therapy for exercise. He runs a clinic for adult athletes with diabetes, and also supports a sports clinic for children and young people. He is involved in the ExTOD (Exercise in Type One Diabetes) programme developed by Professor Rob Andrews and Dr Parth Narendran. He is also vice-chair of the Diabetes Technology Network (DTN-UK) and national clinical lead for the NaDIA Harms audit, and is interested in inpatient diabetes, cystic fibrosis related diabetes and islet transplantation. Outside of work he enjoys cycling, tennis and walking with his dog, Reggie.

Ken McHardy was born, raised and educated (mostly) in Aberdeen where he completed a medical degree in 1978. He trained as a diabetes specialist including a spell in research on insulin as a metabolic regulator. He was a consultant in diabetes at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for more than 20 years developing a major interest in the education of professionals. Since retiring from full-time practice in 2015 he has been involved in oral and medical history projects with a particular focus on the forthcoming centenary of the discovery of insulin in 2022.

Patsy Millar-Bradford is a parent to a child with Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed 7 years ago at age 4. She and her family first attended their T-1 Today UK FFL Conference in 2018 and loved it so much they have attended each year since. Patsy is currently a patient advocate for JDRF and has been involved in fundraising for Type 1 charities for the past 7 years, leading to some interesting adventures such as Ziplining over the River Clyde and Abseiling down the Forth Bridge. A former Post Doc Researcher in the field of Science and Engineering, she now enjoys her current job as a Snowboard instructor teaching Adults and Children the art and fun of flying down a hill. In her spare time, Patsy loves wild swimming and hill walking.

Dani Pemberton is the mother to Grace (4) and Jude (2), as well as wife to John, who has had Type 1 Diabetes since he was 27. She has learnt everything she knows about T1D from John, who is an amazing person to learn from. Dani is a secondary school PE teacher, a yoga teacher and coaches gymnastics to young children. She loves to travel, is extremely sociable and is looking forward to be joining the FFL Team this year. A key part of Dani’s role will be ensuring that the Reception children progress in their understanding of T1D.

John is passionate about empowering and educating children and young people and their families to self-manage and take control of diabetes. He has had type 1 diabetes since 2008 and has played both cricket and football at a high level. He is passionate about being active, and takes every opportunity to get to the gym, walk the Grand Canyon, and tackle the Three Peaks. His work at Birmingham Children's Hospital (UK) involves delivering personalised education to; the newly diagnosed, those initiating pump therapy, new starters on CGM, and those wanting to improve their lifestyle. He run a sports specific clinic for those who play at a high level. His current interests is the effective use of CGM using a "Sugar Surfing" approach. His main focus is to bring the current evidence base into clinical practice as soon as pos- sible, by creating tools that make it easy. Recently, this has been the implementation of a new system KISS, for giving extra insulin for high fat and protein meals.

Kenny Rodenheiser, diagnosed in April 2003, has been part of the CWD family since 2004. He currently serves as a member of CWD's Board of Directors and leads TeamCWD. After many years of volunteering with various diabetes organizations, he realized his passion was to educate, motivate, and advocate for all people with diabetes. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Ramapo College of New Jersey and shortly after earned his credentials as a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist.

Paul is an active member of the Diabetes community on Twitter, under the name DiabeticDadUK. He is specifically involved with the GBDoc community (Great Britain Diabetes Online Community). He is a Diabetes blogger, vlogger and podcaster as well as an organiser of Diabetes tweetchats. He has had Type 1 Diabetes since diagnosis on his 8th birthday in 1984. Paul currently uses an insulin pump and a CGM to help manage his T1.

Emma Strack-Smith’s son, Hugo, was diagnosed aged 6, in 2016. They have really enjoyed attending every FFL since 2017. Emma joined the staff of FFL in 2019 and was due also to work at FFL Florida this year, until the pandemic stopped play! Emma is a Reflexologist after being a chartered accountant and working around the world for 16 years and also working in the exercise industry. She has 4 kids (Hugo being the youngest) and enjoys fitness and (currently) beating her kids at Fantasy Football! 

Wendy Watson graduated from the University of Aberdeen and began specialist training in Diabetes, Endocrinology and GIM in 2000. Through her training in the North of Scotland she had the opportunity to train in Medical Education to complement her clinical roles. She has 2 children, Zoe and Calum, and continues to juggle her work and family commitments (plus plays hockey every week for a local team). Wendy commenced her consultant role in 2008 and is involved with the delivery of adult diabetes care with a special interest in leading our Diabetes and Pregnancy service. She works with our young adult MDT covering a community based secondary care clinic and continues to support outreach work with several primary care diabetes teams. Diabetes Education is a passion and she is keen to do the best for people living with diabetes, their families and the healthcare professionals involved in delivering care and support. Wendy is Chair of the Scottish Diabetes Education Advisory Group, a subgroup of SDG. 

Candice Ward is an Advanced Diabetes Dietitian with a particular clinical interest in Type 1 Diabetes, especially in intensive insulin management, structured education, advanced communication skills and the use of technology. Candice led the Adult Insulin Pump and DAFNE Service as well as the Diabetes, Obesity and Cardiology Dietetics Service at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for many years. More recently, she has moved into designing, developing and delivering diabetes online education to healthcare professionals, people living with diabetes and their families and carers. Candice also work with CamDiab as their Training and Outreach Manager to support the uptake and use of the world’s first Artificial Pancreas app, CamAPS FX.

Jill is a pediatric psychologist and a certified diabetes educator with over 25 years of research experience and clinical work with children, adolescents and families with diabetes and their families. Her academic appointment is as a Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She has published numerous research articles and offered workshops and lectures addressing issues such as improving self-management behaviors, family adaptation and coping, building adolescent resilience, the use of technology (CGM, Pumps and the Artificial Pancreas), and transitioning from pediatric to adult care. She is a co-author of two books, one that focuses on transitioning from pediatric to adult care, and another that focuses on working with adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Neil Benchell began his involvement with T1TodayUK watching from the side-lines as the “spouse” of a faculty member. Neil came from the US to help the UK gain its independence by working on the Teen Staff and anywhere else he was needed. It is the goal of the entire Teen programme to ensure that the Teens have exciting and entertaining learning experiences as well as the opportunities to build lasting “Friends for Life.” Neil is thrilled to have been able to pass on the “CWD magic” to so many Teens over the years. When he is not working on the Teen staff, Neil is an attorney practicing in the area of intellectual property litigation. In that capacity, Neil has had the opportunity to represent a number of diabetes-related organisations.  

Jude Kennon has been a Diabetes Specialist Nurse for 8 years. Having graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2010, Jude started her career in medical receiving at Victoria Infirmary Hospital, Glasgow. Here Jude learned about the acute side of diabetes and its complications. Thereafter, Jude moved to a diabetes ward at Gartnavel General Hospital, where she gained further experience in diabetes and successfully applied for her current role as a Diabetes Specialist Nurse, initially working at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, and now at the New Victoria Hospital, Glasgow. Specialist interests include transition care, psychological impact of diabetes, health literacy, and health inequalities. Jude is the proud mummy of Dylan (4) and Harrison (18 months), and her personal hobbies and interests include music, walking, open water swimming, dancing and all things Disney!

Christine Lynch, RN, is a Diabetes Specialist Nurse currently working in Community within Glasgow City CHCP. She spent time working at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley working closely with the Paediatric team with the young adults/adolescent groups who are making the ‘Transition’ to Adult Services. Christine started nursing training in 1987, qualifying in 1989. After working in busy medical wards Christine attended Caledonian University in Glasgow and completed her EN Conversion course, qualifying in 2002 as a Registered Nurse. Thereafter, she joined the Diabetes Team at the Southern General Hospital Glasgow, now Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in December that year, working initially as the Diabetes Clinic Nurse and thereafter undertook the roles of Diabetes Research Nurse, Diabetes Vascular Liaison Nurse and eventually becoming a Diabetes Specialist Nurse. Christine has been involved in many aspects within Diabetes, working with patients with both Type 1 and Type 2, Gestational Diabetes and also those with Genetic types of Diabetes. She has attended Diabetes Camp events on a couple of occasions and is looking forward to volunteering at this year’s Children With Diabetes Conference. She loves to hear of, and learn from, peoples’ life experience with Diabetes and hopes that the experience and knowledge she has gained through working within this field has assisted her in offering support and education to others and help them manage their condition independently. Outside work Christine is Mum to a grown up daughter and they both enjoy attending live music events, days out, weekends away and holidays in the sun.

Neil Carpenter started working at Abbott in 1999. Neil is a Principal Scientist working in Research and Development, and is involved in the design and development of test strips and meters for blood glucose monitoring. Neil has a non-identical twin, but likes to regard themselves as "simultaneous brothers". He enjoys watching many different sports. Formerly a choir boy, Neil now prefers to enjoy his music through visits to the theatre and and attending concerts. He also likes to spend his free time traveling both in the UK and abroad. Neil met his wife Nicola through working at Abbott.

Jon Peel is the Sensor Manufacture Lead for the FreeStyle Libre system at Abbott Diabetes Care. Jon has been with Abbott for 15 years in various roles, so knows a lot about glucose monitoring for diabetes. In his spare time, Jon enjoys listening to music and is a regular regular festival goer. He also enjoys both watching and playing cricket and taking his mad dog out for walks. Jon has run five full marathons, over 20 half marathons, and might attempt another one!

Chelsea Carr, has grown up around diabetes; her brother Jeremy was diagnosed in 2000. She attended her first Friends for Life Orlando conference with her family in 2003 and has been to many CWD conferences since that time. It was through the FFL conferences that she first met her husband, Martyn. Chelsea now lives in Glasgow and works as a data analyst for Vodafone UK. She is also an aerialist and spends all of her free time hanging from the rafters on a trapeze in various venues around the UK. Chelsea and Martyn welcomed their first child, Owynn, in May of this year and are so excited to be showing off their little “made by CWD” baby at this year’s conference!

Martyn Carr, lives in Scotland and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was five years old. Martyn earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University West of Scotland and currently works with different age groups with diabetes. He would like to become a Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN). Martyn met his wife Chelsea at the Friends for Life Conference in Orlando. They welcomed their first child, Owynn, in May of this year and are so excited to be bringing him to his very first Friends For Life! Martyn has participated in the Friends for Life conferences both in United States of American and the UK for many years, working within the Elementary, Tween and Teen age groups where he loves helping out and being with his friends at CWD conferences.

Saheela Mohammed started at Abbott in 2017 and is a Bioengineer by training. Saheela is now a Project Engineer who was previously on the Engineering Graduate Development Programme at Abbott. She is involved in the manufacturing process of Freestyle Libre sensors. Outside of work, Saheela enjoys volunteering her time to encourage the uptake of STEM in schools. She also loves reading, travelling and spending time with her friends and family. Saheela is looking forward to joining the virtual conference this year. It’s wonderful to see that there are so many new first timers joining!!

Liz Phipps started at Abbott over 20 years ago. Liz is a Clinical Study Start-up Specialist, working in Clinical Affairs team, her role involves setting-up studies with Doctors & Nurses to test our glucose monitoring systems. Liz regularly enjoys cycling and takes part in events across the country. She re-found her love for cycling when she signed up for a charity ride on behalf of the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) in 2014. She also enjoys gardening, walks with her pet Labrador and knitting bobble hats.

Becky Thomson was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2009 at the age of 24. She is a writer, director and actor who posts far less frequently than she would like on her blog, Instructions Not Included. Over the last nine years, she has been privileged to work with new pump users during their start up and take her one woman show about diagnosis and life with Type 1 to northern audiences and medical students in Leeds. In her day job she works in university accommodation services with a focus on students with additional medical needs and requirements. She is currently learning to play Roller Derby despite being fairly terrible at it. She has attended three Orlando Friends For Life conferences and is thrilled to have the opportunity to assist with the UK conference for a second year.

Marissa Wylie has worked for Abbott Diabetes Care for just over 14 years and is now the Operational Excellence Manager for the Witney site, previously Marissa looked after the manufacturing processes of Libre Sensors. Marissa has a degree in Science and a Masters in Business Administration. Marissa loves horses and is lucky enough to have her own horse called Bob. They spend time together going for rides and jumping (small jumps!) in competitions. Marissa has recently discovered a passion for outdoor swimming & can be found swimming around in lakes & rivers.   

Laura Braid has been a volunteer for FFL since the first UK conference in 2009 and became a Trustee of T1-Today UK in 2021. She has a family history of Type 1 diabetes, completed research in diabetes technology as part of her Master’s Degree, and currently works as an engineer for a Diabetes technology manufacturing company. Originally from the US, Laura lives in the Scottish Highlands with her husband John, two guinea pigs, and a flock of chickens. She is a proud Auntie to seven nieces and nephews and in her spare time plays trombone in several bands, enjoys mountain biking, loves home brewing and is a keen gardener. Laura loves volunteering for FFL because of the huge support network that it creates for families impacted by Diabetes and because of the sheer joy and laughter the conference brings.

Rebekah Sutherland was diagnosed with T1 diabetes in 1998 at 36 months old. She attended her first Friend for Life UK Conference in 2010, her first Children With Diabetes Orlando Conference in 2013 and has attended both ever since, joining the volunteer staff on both sides of the Pond in 2014. Bex graduated in Social Science in 2016 and is continuing her studies at Open University majoring in psychology with counselling with a view to becoming a diabetes psychologist and educator. Since the age of 13, Bex has delivered speeches on life with diabetes at business lunches, fundraising balls, oil industry events, school assemblies and since 2015 speaks to the 2nd year medical students at Aberdeen University during their lectures on diabetes. In her spare time, she plays competitive netball, is a swimming teacher, dotes on her nephew, loves reading and enjoys a good vanilla latte.

Nicola Carpenter started at Abbott over 20 years ago. Nicola is a Principal Technologist, working in Technical Services managing projects involved with raw materials that are used in the manufacture of blood glucose and ketone strips. Nicola enjoys singing and has sung in the same choir since joining the junior choir many years ago, which has led to performing all around the country and abroad. She also loves dance, especially tap dancing, and likes to regularly visit the theatre.

Patsy Millar-Bradford is a parent to a child with Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed 7 years ago at age 4. She and her family first attended their T-1 Today UK FFL Conference in 2018 and loved it so much they have attended each year since. Patsy is currently a patient advocate for JDRF and has been involved in fundraising for Type 1 charities for the past 7 years, leading to some interesting adventures such as Ziplining over the River Clyde and Abseiling down the Forth Bridge. A former Post Doc Researcher in the field of Science and Engineering, she now enjoys her current job as a Snowboard instructor teaching Adults and Children the art and fun of flying down a hill. In her spare time, Patsy loves wild swimming and hill walking.

Hannah was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2010 and has been attending Friends for Life Conferences ever since. Hannah loves hearing about new research, technology and tips to manage her type 1 at the Conferences. Hannah is now studying Biomedical Sciences at university, with a particular interest in type 1 diabetes research. Aside from her studies Hannah enjoys playing cricket and music.

Jamie Sutherland is the brother of Rebekah and son of David and Gwen. He attended his first Friends for Life Conference in 2012, and joined the staff in 2018. Jamie lives in Aberdeen and works as a paralegal in his Dad’s Criminal Defence Law Practice. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and baking for family and friends, with his shortbread and cakes, especially his Christmas cakes, being in great demand. Jamie is looking forward to joining the Elementary Team in Glasgow this year, even if it means “taking orders” from his little sister!

Penny's daughter Sophie was diagnosed in 2004 aged 2. First attending FFL UK in 2009, she has worked in many different areas of the Type 1 community and is currently the Treasurer of T-1 Today UK. Penny spends her free time cycling & hiking in the Yorkshire Dales.

Chris has been a FFL UK regular since 2010 and was a trustee of T-1 Today UK from 2015-18. He is married to Teresa, dad to Daniel, Hannah and Mattie, an actuary, Lecturer in Actuarial Science at Queen Mary University of London, and a big Toronto BlueJays fan. Chris is looking forward to learning more from the great speakers at FFL 2020 and hoping his WiFi holds up.

Elli Flicos attended her first FFL conference in 2009 as a Teen, where she loved to make friends to carb count with at dinner, and skip queues at Thorpe Park during the ever popular teen offsite trip! She was diagnosed with T1 in 2002, has been pumping since 2004, and using sensors since 2009. Elli also uses a wheelchair, is deaf and is in the process of being diagnosed with Ehler-Danlos Syndrome. Outside of medical issues, Elli is doing a PhD in Physics, and in her free time enjoys being a Guide Leader and learning BSL. This year, Elli is returning after quite a number of years as Room Captain for the T1 Adults/Young Adults and Significant Others, bringing her husband, Sam, with her.  

Emma Strack-Smith’s son, Hugo, was diagnosed aged 6, in 2016. They have really enjoyed attending every FFL since 2017. Emma joined the staff of FFL in 2019 and was due also to work at FFL Florida this year, until the pandemic stopped play! Emma is a Reflexologist after being a chartered accountant and working around the world for 16 years and also working in the exercise industry. She has 4 kids (Hugo being the youngest) and enjoys fitness and (currently) beating her kids at Fantasy Football! 

Gwen Sutherland is a Trustee and the Chairperson for T1 Today UK. She attended her first UK Children With Diabetes Conference in 2010, with daughter Rebekah (Dx’d at 36 months) and husband David, her first CWD Conference in Orlando in 2013, and has been a volunteer on both sides of the Pond ever since. Gwen works in David’s criminal defence law practice when not organising and working on the T-1 Today UK FFL Conferences. She and David have 3 other children, Jamie, Gemma, and Sarah and a gorgeous wee grandson, Aaden, who has brought so much joy and laughter into all their lives. In what free time she has, Gwen enjoys walking, reading, and spending time with her family.

In 1989, Douglas Cairns was a British Royal Air Force jet pilot at the age of 25 when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and consequently lost his flying career. In 2000 he regained the freedom to fly in the USA as a licenced private pilot, and then went on to complete "Diabetes World Flight" in 2003, the first round-the-world flight by a pilot with type 1 diabetes. Douglas continues to fly exciting flying projects in the UK and USA and is an avid advocate for Pilots With Diabetes.

Hannah Shone is a designer, bookseller and psychology student. She did not know much about diabetes until she met her step-dad’s family: Scott, Chad and Alyssa Kyllo (who both have T1). In 2016, she attended Children with Diabetes’s Florida conference and as well as having a lovely holiday, she learned a few things about T1 diabetes! It was through Scott that she got the opportunity to design last year’s programme and is happy to be back at it again this year!

David Sutherland is dad to Jamie, Gemma, Sarah and Rebekah (Dx’d T1D 1998, aged 36 months), Grandpa to Aaden and married to Gwen. He attended his first UK Children With Diabetes Conference in 2010, his first CWD Orlando Conference in 2014 and joined the volunteer staff on both sides of the Pond in 2015. Not only is David a member of the Food and Beveridge Team in Orlando, he is one of two Coordinators for T-1 Today UK, who organise, plan, and carb count all the meals and snacks for the Conferences. Outside the Conference, David is a criminal defence lawyer in Aberdeen, running his own business, which also employs Jamie and Gwen. When not in court, David enjoys golfing, cycling, going to the gym, playing with Aaden, and spending time with his family.

Scott Kyllo lives in British Columbia, Canada. He has two adult children, Alyssa and Chad. Their path along the diabetes road started in 1996 when his son, Chad, then age two, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when they were residing in Bahrain in the Middle East. The World Wide Web had just arrived in Bahrain and it brought to the Kyllo’s the safety of the Children with Diabetes family. Two years later, when life was becoming somewhat comfortable and routine, Alyssa, then age 7, was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Chad was also diagnosed with celiac disease in 2001. The family attended their first Friends For Life conference in 2002. Getting to meet the CWDers in person was like Christmas in July! Scott is a Chief Information Officer by day and an Aircraft Engineer by night maintaining a Piper Cherokee and a Mooney. These skills and his “MacGyver” qualities keep him running at the Friends For Life conferences as its Information Technology and Audio/Visual support person. He is a strong advocate of Friends For Life conferences and believes anyone with a connection to diabetes should attend at least one... although warns that the conferences are much like potato chips—it’s hard to stop at just one! Scott also helps to run the T-1 Today UK Dad's discussion group.

Glynn Robinson is married to Penny and has four children including Sophie: diagnosed in 2004 aged 2. He has attended FFL conferences in the UK since 2009. He works as the Executive Chair at an IT service company and is naturally drawn to the technological advances in diabetes management. He is also an Education Advisor, sits on the Skills & Education Panel in his local authority and is on the Board of TuringLab: an organisation providing disadvantaged children with key digital skills. Glynn is also the T-1 Today UK WebMaster. 

John Braid is volunteering again for Tech Support with this conference as he had such a brilliant time last year! John has a family history of Diabetes and has previously helped out with Diabetes UK charity events. He is a proud Uncle to seven nieces and nephews and enjoys photography, gardening, and homebrewing. John is a Chartered Architectural Technologist and lives in the Scottish Highlands.

Laura Braid has been a volunteer for FFL since the first UK conference in 2009 and became a Trustee of T1-Today UK in 2021. She has a family history of Type 1 diabetes, completed research in diabetes technology as part of her Master’s Degree, and currently works as an engineer for a Diabetes technology manufacturing company. Originally from the US, Laura lives in the Scottish Highlands with her husband John, two guinea pigs, and a flock of chickens. She is a proud Auntie to seven nieces and nephews and in her spare time plays trombone in several bands, enjoys mountain biking, loves home brewing and is a keen gardener. Laura loves volunteering for FFL because of the huge support network that it creates for families impacted by Diabetes and because of the sheer joy and laughter the conference brings.

Richie Bradford is a software engineer and development manager for a large global public safety company. He is married to Patsy and dad to Sean, who was diagnosed with Type 1 at the age of 4. In his free time, Richie enjoys brewing his own beer, playing guitar and walking his overly energetic dog Ember. Richie and his family attended their first Friends for Life conference in 2018, returning in 2019 and he is looking forward to getting more involved this year in the Tech Team.

Clare Christopher has a Biomedical Science background and currently works in diabetes technology at LifeScan. She volunteered at her first FFL conference at the virtual event last year and is delighted to be able to do it again in person this year.

Gary Graham is a graduate of UHI University with a BA (Hons) in Popular Music. He is currently studying for a Masters Degree in Further Education at Aberdeen University whilst also lecturing full time at the North East of Scotland College in the Learning Opportunities Department. Gary was introduced to T-1 Today UK after meeting his partner Rebekah, who attended her first UK Conference in 2010, her first US Conference in 2013 and joined the staff at both in 2014, working initially in Childcare before moving to Elementary. Since being with Bex, Gary has gained an insight and understanding as to what Type 1 is all about which has enabled him to understand what some of his students deal with every day. In his spare time, Gary also enjoys writing and performing music in his multi-ensemble function band, Silver City Soul Revue. Throughout his ventures as a musician Gary has played at hundreds of weddings, functions and parties throughout the UK. Gary is also a keen runner and enjoys meditating daily. 

Kirsty Horrocks is a Quality Director for Diabetes Technology company based in the Scottish Highlands. Kirsty is a Charted Statistician and her team continuous looks to improve Diabetes solutions through the products and services they offer. She is a mum to two fun loving girls and spends her free time volunteering as a Girl Guide Leader. Her hobbies include baking, indoor cycling and listening to music. 

Jenny Mackenzie attended her first FFL conference in 2020 as technical support for the virtual conference. Seeing what was involved, and how much this helped the attendees, she has decided to join as a volunteer in person this year. Jenny has worked in product development and manufacturing of diabetes products for over 20 years. She is the proud Auntie of 2 nieces. In her spare time, Jenny loves being in the outdoors and is always up for an adventure, making the most of the Scottish Highlands.

Rhona Macleod is the Quality Systems and Compliance Manager for LifeScan, a designer and manufacturer of diabetes management products. Rhona has worked in the medical device industry, primarily diabetes care, for 15 years. Rhona first volunteered for Friends For Life at the 2020 Virtual Conference offering technical support along with fellow LifeScan colleagues. She lives in the Scottish Highlands with her partner and rescue golden retriever, enjoying lots of walks and wildlife spotting. Rhona keeps busy in her spare time as a volunteer crew member on the local RNLI lifeboat. 

Karina Mulholland is 26 and originally from Glasgow. Since graduating with a degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 2018 she relocated to the Highlands to work in Medical Device Manufacturing where she completed a 2 year graduate scheme and is now a Project Manager. She spends most of her free time outdoors – hiking, paddleboarding and skiing and has just recently got a Springer Spaniel puppy who will be able to join the adventures soon! This is her first year at Friends for Life and is looking forward to being part of it!