TWO community diabetes nurses from Ceredigion who undertook a challenging bike ride have received a special award.

Colleagues Anwen Jones and Helen Saunders cycled 100 miles from Borth to Cardigan last June and raised more than £13,000 for Diabetes UK and have been rewarded for their efforts with an Inspire Award (Fundraisers of the Year).

Both were new to cycling, but felt they wanted to inspire their patients at Hywel Dda Health Board, raise awareness and funds for Diabetes UK Cymru.

The winding, scenic route they covered passed through every surgery they work at, to mark the work they do with patients living with diabetes.

Anwen said: “It was a great surprise to receive this award following our success in raising £13,500 for Diabetes UK last year. The local support and encouragement was astonishing with individuals joining us on the bike ride.

“The success of the bike ride was down to local community engagement and support. It was a truly amazing experience and I have a lot of happy memories from the ride and the support received from all the team at Diabetes UK Cymru.”

This year, Diabetes UK Cymru is unable to hold a ceremony for Inspire award-winners due to Covid-19, but the charity has been surprising the winners by door-stepping them (at distance) with flowers, or gifts and the certificates.

Anwen, added, “Many of the people we support are living with Type 2 diabetes. Increasing their activity levels would make a difference to their health.

“Neither of us were cyclists so we found it a challenge. We hope that by taking on some or all of the route, people felt inspired to be more active and do more to manage their condition."

Wales has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the UK, with 7.6 per cent of the population with the condition. In the Hywel Dda Health Board region, this rises to 7.9 per cent. A total of 90 per cent of people with diabetes have Type 2.

You may be at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes because of your family history, age and ethnic background. However, the biggest risk factor is being overweight.

As many as three in five cases of Type 2 diabetes could be prevented or delayed by being more active, eating well and maintaining a healthy weight.