Shane Board (The reason and inspiration behind Pop 4 Diabetes):
Pop 4 Diabetes is an annual event inspired by Shane who himself was diagnosed with type one diabetes at age ten.
The aim of the project is to raise much needed funds for medical research into finding a cure for Diabetes.
Things have improved so much in the past eleven years and its all because of medical research that people with diabetes are able to lead a more comfortable life.
Shane struggled to come to terms with his condition and rebelled against it in a big way.
He refused to accept it was happening to him and pretended it wasnt there.
It was just three years ago at age eighteen ,shane was told he was verging on being blind by the time he was twenty and unless he changed his outlook things looked bleak.
This was the wake up call he needed and was to be the start of something new and a new shane appeared!
He changed overnight and came from being the worst diabetic in the area to someone who is now under great control and living a near on normal happy life.
He decided that he wanted to make a difference and was determined to help fund medical research so hopefully there would one day be a cure for this horrible cloud that loomed over his life and the lives of many other people like him.
Being a teenager was hard enough but having diabetes with it just didnt go together.
Shane had left school at sixteen with no qualifications to be proud of.he hated school and felt different from other people so couldnt wait to leave.
He had his mind set on being a singer and actor and being he was a national karate champion by age fifteen thought that would get him through.
He auditioned for Stars in their eyes kids as Darius and although he didnt get onto the main show it made him realise he enjoyed performing and started to take it even more seriiously.
He started singing lessons and the teacher put him in a show at weymouth pavilion and from there it snowballed ,he was asked to do lots of different events and became so popular his picture was used on posters along the beach advertising the summer season at the pavilion.
His silouhette was also used on the headed paper from the entertainments department at Weymouth council.
He put on a few different shows himself at the pavilion to raise money for his cause even before he had fully accepted his condition.
He entered lots of talent shows and had lots of second and third places although never a first,but as we always said even Elvis Presley never won a talent contest !
He came second in the national singer of the year contest at the Beck theatre in london,and also came third in a singer/songwriter competition at age sixteen.
Shane came to the notice of diabetes UK who were so impressed with all the attention he was getting that they asked him to be a speaker at there national conference in nottingham a couple of years ago.
He made such a huge impression on everyone attending that afterwards he was asked regularly to go to different places to give talks to people who were maybe finding it hard to come to terms with their diagnosis and by listening to his story it proved you could still do all the things you want to and live a good life with a life long condition.
He still to this day travels all over the UK talking to other young people about his career and how he rebelled and thought his life was over when he was diagnosed ,and he proves thats not so from his experience.
Shane has appeared in a number of tv,magazine,newspaper and radio projects and is a spotlight actor ,which is the register for all the well know actors you see on tv everyday.
He also appeared as a body double for Harry Potter in The order of the Phoenix,which was shown worldwide.
he has been in a tv commercial for NTL advertising broadband packages as well as BBC period drama alongside the famous michael sheen ,who played his father in the story of H G Wells.
Shane played frank wells and michael sheen was H G Wells.
Hes appeared in casualty for the BBC as well as numerous documentaries just to mention a few things.
Hes performed alongside some well known names at a number of theatres across the UK and has been a pin up in Sugar magazine as well as being featured in Bliss,Take A break,Woman,TV hits ,OK ,Pick me Up and many more
hes had lots of publicity in the newspapers including the nationals and The Bournemouth daily echo gave him a double page spread a few months back.
He sang live on 2cr radio when graham mack was working there,and last May was a speaker and performed at the Mayors charity Ball at the Hilton Hotel London,accompanied by melissa suffield who plays Lucy beale in Eastenders.
Melissa and Shane also had afternoon tea at the house of commons last November.
We have photos of shane being filmed live for the one oclock news on BBC outside the house of commons as he was campaigning for better conditions for children with diabetes in schools.
He was also used on the BBC news to talk about insulin pumps and how his life changed when he managed to get one and he showed everyone how it worked.
The company who make the pump he was wearing were inundated with calls after his tv appearance.
Last year he was a special guest at the friends for life three day conference in Windsor where lots of children from America and the UK who were living with diabetes got together for the first time.
Shane was asked to talk to them in all different age groups and they loved him so much hes been asked to go back again this year
In 2006 he was named young achiever of the year as well as 2004 meridian tv child of courage for his success in winning the southern region karate tournaments so many times and then becoming a national champion despite his diabetes.
He has certificates from diabetes UK awarding him for his dedication and commitment to the charity .
Two years ago Shane became top student on the skills train home learning course and was awarded a new PC and i wrote and thanked them for it as it was more about he had a academic qualification for the first time in his life and became a web design manager than the pc ,he was so happy that he had at last studied and made something of himself seeing he messed up at school.The CEO of the company called me and said he would love to sponsor shane and gave him £5000 which he used to record a three track CD at jools hollands complex in london and donated all the profits from that to Diabetes UK.The CD went on sale exclusively through Matchbox/ Universal records to Tesco stores across the UK and on digital download across the world.he had a tv advert and music video made as well and this all went on a number of the music channels.
He also had aiplay as far away as australia and new York.
There was only enough money to have 1000 CD,s produced and they sold out very fast and had we had more money to produce more and a bit more promotion the cd would have probably charted.
Shane is totally dedicated to his charity work and happy to do all he can to help anyone who maybe struggling to come to terms with Diabetes.