Newmarket Academy pupil hands over £950 cheque to Diabetes UK

Exning schoolgirl Layla Blades has handed over a cheque to the charity Diabetes UK to aid research into the disease.

Twelve-year-old Layla, a pupil at Newmarket Academy, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes four years ago, planned and ran a cake stall in Newmarket’s Guineas shopping centre in November which raised £950.

Her initiative caught the eye of town MP Matt Hancock, who is also Secretary of State for Health, who wrote a letter to Layla congratulating her on her fund-raising skills and wishing her well.

“The letter came as a total surprise and Layla was thrilled,” said her mother Lorna, who is keeping her fingers crossed that Mr Hancock’s government department will come up trumps in the spring by making a blood glucose testing monitor available on the NHS so that Layla and thousands of children like her would no longer have to prick their fingers numerous times every day and night to check blood levels and keep them safe.

“It would be a godsend,” said Lorna, who described her daughter as ‘brave and resilient’.

“We will apply and keep our fingers crossed that Layla gets funding but hopefully it won’t be long before every child with diabetes is entitled to a monitor on the NHS. It’s quite a small thing but it would make a big difference to the lives of children and their families.”

Layla has thanked the many local businesses who gave donations, gifts and raffle prizes to boost the total her stall raised for the charity.