It has been shown that people who make connections with other people living with diabetes have far better management of their diabetes, wellbeing and quality of life. Peers for progress addresses the global diabetes epidemic by:

At Diabetes Counselling Online we believe strongly that the connections between people are critical to their diabetes management. Our motto is "communicating and connecting".

There are now a number of ways you can find a "buddy" and make connections with each other here at Diabetes Counselling Online. If you make a connection online and decide to meet someone "in the flesh" please make sure you consider your personal safety; check the person is genuine as far as possible and ensure you meet in a public place to start with.

We do not recommend children under 15 years of age arrange to meet anyone they meet online without involvement of their parents.

Personal Messaging

If you are a member of our discussion forums and chat rooms, you can send a personal message (pm) to someone who seems to have a similar story to you, someone you might like to approach re making contact "off the board". We suggest you introduce yourself and let them know their post struck a chord in some way with you. You can then ask if they are interested in having some personal emails with you, either via the forum messaging system, or via private emails. If you decide to do this, it is important that you do not "hassle" anyone with lots of emails if they are not interested in this method of communication. Remember these emails are not moderated, so you need to respect each other.

Make friends at the forum

If you post at the forum and see someone there you feel a connection with, you can of course post replies to their posts and carry on some conversations via your posts at the forum. You might find this then turns into a friendship where you begin emailing or personal messaging each other.

Make a friend at the chat rooms

Once registered with our diabetes community you can meet up with people in the main chat room "The lounge" and join in the regular scheduled chat sessions each week in the type 1, type 2, weight matters and parents retreat.

You can take your chances on seeing who is around, or make times with people via the forum, or personally.

"In person" meets

If you notice a number of members live in your area and you want to arrange an in person meet, just drop us a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will coordinate this for you.

Respecting other members

Across all areas of our site it iis expected that people will respect each other's thoughts and feelings and that this service is not abused in any way. However, please be aware that if you enter into a "buddy" or offline relationship with someone, "Diabetes Counselling Online Inc " takes no responsibility for the ongoing contact between you and your buddy. It is up to you how often and how long you continue to make contact withl each other.

Please feel free to provide feedback either via email or via the discussion forum, as to how the service is working for you and enjoy communcating and connecting!