DLEA Member

The Diabetes Lived Experience Advisory Committee (DLEA) is a voluntary group of people living with or affected by diabetes, bringing the collective voice to the heart of our plans and work, through regular consultation and involvement. This group aims to include people at risk of diabetes, parents/carers and family members in addition to people living with any type of diabetes.

Being a part of DLEA isn’t just about an individual voice - we support members to link with their local area and diabetes community, to understand what is happening on the ground and represent all voices of those affected by diabetes, feeding this into long-term strategic projects internally within the charity. Each member can volunteer for up to 2 terms of 3 years each.

The group meets on a quarterly basis, alternating between in-person and online meetings. The meetings are attended by our CEO, Executive Team, Involvement Team, and other members of the charity. This creates the opportunity for members to share insights and feedback ideas directly to those working in the organisation. Beyond these quarterly meetings, there will also be optional opportunities to join smaller projects. This could include shorter focus groups, joining a subgroup that works on a specific project, or a member acting as a representative at a one-off event/activity.

One important purpose of the Diabetes Lived Experience Advisory Committee is to represent a diverse range of voices from the wider community of people affected by diabetes. However, currently the group is underrepresented across many communities. We particularly encourage people with Black Caribbean, Black African, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani backgrounds, and people aged under 40 living with early-onset type 2 diabetes or a history of gestational diabetes to apply.