Sport students link up with charity on type 1 diabetes awareness
Ayrshire College’s Sport and Fitness department have engaged in a six-week programme learning about type 1 diabetes with the charity Lochlan’s Legacy.
Lochlan’s Legacy is Lochlan Murdoch’s charity, a young man from Cumnock who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was four years old. The charity aims to raise awareness and understanding of type 1 diabetes in Scotland.
Lochlan broke his leg at the age of 9 and struggled with mental health challenges as a result. He decided to go on an ambitious fundraising challenge, walking two miles around each SPFL Premiership stadium, as well as Hampden Park and Townhead Park, the home of Cumnock Juniors, who he played with at the time.
After raising over £10,000 for the Kris Boyd Charity and diabetes charities, he was invited to 10 Downing Street to meet then-Prime Minister Theresa May, who also lives with the condition.
Now aged 14, he has set up Lochlan’s Legacy to raise awareness and reduce any stigma surrounding type 1 diabetes. His mother Lesley Murdoch is the charity manager of Lochlan’s Legacy, and she engaged with Ayrshire College to deliver training to Sport and Fitness students, who are now passing on their knowledge to school pupils.
The Sport and Fitness students linked up with the charity to complete a series of workshops on understanding what type 1 diabetes is, the signs and symptoms, and how to remove barriers when delivering sports coaching to someone with type 1 diabetes.
Alongside Lochlan’s Legacy, the students worked with Loanhead Primary School pupils to create posters on the symptoms of type 1 diabetes. The pupils also took part in sport activities.
Lesley Murdoch, Lochlan’s Legacy Charity Manager, said: “The College was keen to get more information on type 1 diabetes to their students, so we’ve been offering our workshops to them and looking at how we could involve local schools.
“The students have been like sponges. They’ve been so engaged in what we’re trying to do, and you can see that with the work the pupils have done - the posters on the four Ts - the four main signs of pre-diagnose type 1 diabetes. The work is out of this world, and we will use them as part of the charity.
“There are so many stigmas that surround type 1 diabetes, and it really is just lack of understanding. I have to say, up until Lochlan was diagnosed, I didn’t know about all the signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes as I didn’t see it as important to me. But we just feel the more we can educate people on what type 1 is, understanding the signs and symptoms for earlier diagnosis, it then reduces the stigma that surrounds the condition as people go through life, and it means then that they can do whatever they want to do and they’re not facing those barriers a lot of the time.”
Cherryl Fulton, Active Shools Coordinator at East Ayrshire Vibrant Communities, said: "This is something completely new we tried, mixing learning workshops with sports, and I can say it has been a great success. The pupils were really involved in the workshops as they were engaging, and fun. It was fascinating to hear how many children knew someone that is living with type 1 diabetes. I can see the partnership between ourselves at Community Sports Hub, Lochlan’s Legacy and local primary schools growing from strength to strength. The positivity and enthusiasm shown from the Ayrshire College students is another reason these partnerships are so successful. Feedback from teachers and pupils involved has also been positive and enquiries have already been made about another programme in the future!"
Jacqui Milloy, HNC Coaching and Sports Development student at Ayrshire College, said: “The learning has been great because it’s well worth knowing even just the initial symptoms, from the perspective of working with young people. Meeting the school pupils and engaging with them in this topic has been great, it’s been an eye-opening experience for them.”
Lochlan’s Legacy are looking to get involved with more primary and secondary schools, delivering assemblies or working with individual class groups. They also offer a free CPD accredited basic awareness and understanding course for sports coaches, and a follow-up player profile course where they can support a young person with type 1 diabetes, their coach, and parents. For more information, visit: https://www.lochlanslegacyt1d.co.uk/
19 December 2023
Share this post
