T1International is proud of being a very small, but efficient and determined charity. We accomplished a lot in 2016 and can't wait to see what 2017 brings. These highlights are pulled from our 2016 Annual Report. The full report will be available online soon. 

Global Advocates Programme
Throughout 2016 we continued to build our team of  Global Advocates. These T1International ambassadors are committed to our mission and vision, and they want to ensure that people living with diabetes in their country have access to everything they need to live a full life. Our Advocates spread the word about our work, offer input to our campaigns and projects, and help us understand the challenges of living with diabetes in their own countries and regions. We now have 10 advocates in the following countries: Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Brazil, India, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Austria, the USA. Interested in taking on this important role? Contact us for more information.

The Access Alliance
The Access Alliance now has six member organisations within our network that are passionate about access for people with diabetes worldwide. In 2016 we continued our regular skype meetings to connect, share, and find ways to support each other’s efforts.

The Missing Medicines Campaign
In 2016 we joined forces with other UK health organisations for the  Missing Medicines campaign. The campaign calls for a new research and development framework for medicines so that they will be universally accessible and affordable. As the only diabetes organisation involved, we supported a submission to the United National High Level Panel on Access to Medicines, joined public media advocacy, gathered petition signatures, and met with MPs to pressure government. The campaign launched the Pharmadness game in November, which lets people experience the pressures of being a pharma CEO and educates users about what needs to change.

Insulin and Supply Survey
In early 2016 we started carrying out the  largest-known survey of the out-of-pocket costs that people with type 1 diabetes pay for their insulin and diabetes supplies. We compared monthly out-of-pocket costs for diabetes with average monthly wages in each country and explored whether people use ketone strips and the glucagon injection, which are life-saving when blood sugars are too high or too low.

We received over 200 responses from more than 40 countries. The data confirmed that the cost of insulin and diabetes supplies is unaffordable to many and gave us a wider picture of the global situation for people with diabetes. The survey data also received several mentions in high-profile press (such as  CBS and Time). 

Training and Meet Up in Kenya
In April, Elizabeth went to Kenya as a faculty member for an advocacy training with NCD Child, which included people with type 1 diabetes. Elizabeth and John then traveled to Nairobi to take part in a meet up for people living with diabetes, where they shared their stories and discussed the most important diabetes issues to tackle in Kenya. You can read more about the training and meeting in our  series of blog posts.

Insulin for Syrians Campaign
In June and July we carried out our ‘ Insulin for Syrians’ appeal, including a pub quiz event in London. Donors helped ensure Syrian families get life-saving insulin and diabetes supplies. All funds raised through the appeal were given to our partner organisation, The Syrian American Medical Society, which is working at hospitals in various parts of Syria. The funds will be used to provide insulin, syringes, and blood glucose supplies for people in Aleppo and other locations in Syria that have been cut off from aid. We raised £9,388.

Recruitment of Trustees
In August we began recruiting to add Trustees to  Team T1International. We had a competitive pool of applicants and ended up with two outstanding new Trustees, making us a team of seven.

New Website & Database
T1International was lucky to be chosen by the web agency,  Blanc, to receive a new website which was designed and built for free. We are so pleased with the new look and feel of our website, which really brings the content to life. Along with the website came a new donation platform, Stripe, which makes it easier than ever for people to donate from around the world. We are incredibly grateful to Blanc for making this happen. T1International also set up Salesforce for Non-profits to store our data, which is a big step forward. 

The Type 1 Access Charter
November is Diabetes Month which meant another push for  #insulin4all. In November, along with the launch of the new T1International website, T1Internaitonal also launched the Type 1 Access Charter which is intended to bolster advocacy efforts worldwide. It sets out the rights for people with type 1 diabetes and calls for them to be upheld. Well over 500 individuals and more than 30 organisations have already signed on. The Charter is available to download in 10 languages, along with a corresponding letter to tailor and take or send to media and politicians. https://www.t1international.com/charter

Universal Health Coverage Day
The third annual Universal Health Coverage (UCH) Day was on 12 December. Universal Health Coverage means that every person, everywhere, has access to health care without financial hardship. T1International joined 864 organizations and 117 countries to mark the day. T1International put together a video of people living with diabetes from 16 countries stating what health for all would mean to them.

Rights of the Person with Diabetes Resource
With the help of a legal volunteer T1International created a new supplemental  resource about the right to health for all people living with diabetes. 

Type 1 Access Advocacy Toolkit
T1International was awarded a $5,000 USD grant from Beyond Type 1 to fund global/regional toolkits for people living with type 1 diabetes. The  Diabetes Access Advocacy Toolkit aims to empower people with tools for advocacy work. It specifically focuses on access to insulin, diabetes supplies, care and education. The toolkit is available online but has also been printed to share with T1International Global Advocates around the world, particularly those who have limited access to resources for printing out the toolkit.

This is the first advocacy toolkit of its kind for the type 1 diabetes community. To-date, 110 hard copies of the toolkit have been distributed to our Global Advocates and partner organizations in 11 countries around the world.

T1International Fundraising Pack
Thanks to the help of amazing volunteers, T1International created and designed its first  fundraising pack to support people who want to raise funds for the organisation. We are excited to be able to provide this resource and to continue to grow our fundraising income.

Social Media & Newsletter
T1International now has almost 3,000  Facebook likes, with increasing engagement, as well as 2,465 Twitter followers. We are also newly on LinkedIn and Instagram (IG), with Instagram having 1181 followers already. Our YouTube channel also has some enlightening videos to watch. As of January 2017 our newsletter had 1,006 subscribers and counting!

Funding
We will always be transparent about how we earn and spend our charity funds. The graphs below show you how your donation was used in 2016.