What's in a name

You get type ones, type twos and even type threes, but what the hell is a type none?

Picking a name can be hard. I toyed with a few, and somewhere at the back of a notebook they’re all scribbled down thinking they could do a better job.

But one stuck, and it’s the one I think captures the attitude of what we do.

As soon as you get diagnosed with diabetes, you get categorised. You become a thing with a name and a way of doing things. In those first few years it can feel like you lose a bit of your individuality.

Doctors will greet you with, “Ah, you’re a type 1.” You’ll get invited to type 1/ 2/ 3 learning groups, given books on how to live with your number, and spammed with appointment invites to talk about it.

You get forgotten about as your type takes centre stage.

Type None doesn’t care about your number - we care about you, the people behind the digit.

We also think it sounds cool. Type None, yeah. We don’t conform!

Of course your type matters for medical reasons, we’re not advising you forget all about it. But the person you are behind that type matters more, and you should never, ever forget that.

It’s only a name, but what it stands for is the lives of people we help. Hopefully.