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Wigan wearing Tory’s plaid silk tie dress, photographed by Alistair Guy. -
Wigan wearing Tory’s silk t-shirt and short skirt, photographed by Alistair Guy. -
Named after Eugene Field’s poem The Sugar-Plum Tree, Lady Jubie Wigan’s Sugarplum Children charity is dedicated to building awareness of and finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. Here, the English native talks to us about this passion project and shares some travel insights on her corner of the world.
Sugarplum Children is..
A website and fundraising initiative I founded aimed at parents of children who have type 1 diabetes. It offers helps, advice and support to both them as well as friends and relatives for whom a basic understanding of this condition is a necessity.
The inspiration behind it…
Our daughter Aliena was diagnosed in 2012 at the age of just two and a half — our lives have changed dramatically since. For her, it means a lifetime of constant blood tests and injections, highs and lows, and a certain lack of freedom enjoyed by most children of her age as a result of her blood needing constant monitoring. For my husband and I, it has been three years of trying to understand the never-ending complexities that come with this disease — learning how to inject her (in three years she has had over 10,900 needles puncturing her tiny body), how to understand her hugely varying blood glucose levels, how dramatically these affect her moods and behaviour, and how to calculate the right dosage of insulin that must be given every single time she eats. It has been devastating, overwhelming, baffling and frustrating, with tears shed on a almost daily basis. Of course, we know it could be so much worse — there are so many awful, terrifying illnesses, and this seems minor in comparison — but with most other illnesses the doctors are in charge, whereas with diabetes we left home as the patient but arrived back as the doctor. Until she is older, every decision about how much insulin to give her has to be made by us — her life is literally in our hands.
Type 1 diabetes is different because..
Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder, where a person’s immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells in the pancreas. Beta cells produce insulin so this means they can no longer produce their own insulin and must inject manufactured insulin in order to stay alive. We have no idea why Aliena developed diabetes — it isn’t hereditary, she didn’t have a poor diet, and she wasn’t overweight. ANYONE can get type 1, and with the number of children under the age of 10 being diagnosed increasing by 5% every year within the UK, there has never been a more important time to raise awareness for this cause.
We fundraise for…
All the money I raise goes to JDRF, the world leading funder of type 1 diabetes research. We not only hope, but believe, that type 1 can be cured; it is just a matter of good research, time and money.
Past events include…
In 2013 I organized the first Sugarplum Dinner which raised not only £257k, but just as importantly, it raised a huge amount of awareness for this illness which is often detected far too late. The guest list included the Home Secretary Theresa May, who herself has type 1, as well as Poppy Delevingne, Pippa Middleton and the creator of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes. I was particularly proud of my idea to ask Julian if he would offer the chance to have someone’s name immortalized forever in the award-winning show as one of the live auction prizes, to which he agreed and my friends’ son Atticus Aldridge will indeed be immortalized forever! For last year’s World Diabetes Day, November 14th, we took part in the “Be a Type Onesie” campaign, raising a further £15k as a result of dressing up in unicorn onesies of the day — you can’t even begin to imagine the looks [my husband] Charlie got standing on the platform at Oxford Circus dressed as a pink unicorn at 7AM! I have never been prouder of him.
What’s next…
I’m currently organizing the second Sugarplum Dinner, this year at One Marylebone in November, at which I hope to raise £500k. Planning is well under way and it promises to be bigger and better than before with lots of excitement, such as a performance by the magical Giffords Circus, and also a few other surprises. Details will be on my website nearer the time.
What’s next, part two…
We are also producing a Sugarplum Candle, £10 from which will go directly to JDRF, with the target being to sell 4000; these will also be available to buy via the Sugarplum website as of November, world diabetes month. Not only will it evoke thoughts of deliciously sumptuous sugarplums, but it will bring the light of hope, something those affected by type 1 cannot live without. No one’s childhood should be defined by a daily ordeal of blood tests and injections, and I will do everything in my power to prevent future generations of children suffering from the same fate.
London is like no other city because…
When thinking of London, a quote by the author Graham Swift always springs to mind: “London is like no other city because of its ability to become beautiful. You can suddenly turn a corner and there are odd moments — of light, of weather” — and I cannot agree more. Through the years I have lived in London, every single day I could walk the very same streets, yet from day to day they always look entirely different, always bringing something new and, more often than not, something beautiful .
My advice to first-time visitors…
When I go to other cities, I tend to walk everywhere — if you go from one site to another by tube or taxi you will miss so much. And I always visit the main churches and also food shops. I find a church often a far less stressful and more calming way to take in a city’s art than a packed gallery, somewhere to escape the hustle and bustle of a city, and as for the supermarkets, I know it sounds slightly ridiculous, but nothing is more enlightening about a foreign culture than the foods they eat, and the ways in which these are sold, whether it be a giant Whole Foods in New York, or the incredible spice and olive souks in Marrakech. So my advice to anyone visiting London would be just to walk — literally, buy a good pair trainers and just walk and walk, perhaps with no destination in mind, and just see where you end up.
One of my favorite walking paths…
Walking along the river would probably be my first choice — seeing how the architecture changes from the beautiful and iconic Albert Bridge, through Battersea Park, and just keep going all the way along until you reach the more modern architecture of the South Bank. With every twist and turn you will be astonished by yet another landmark: the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, St Paul’s, The Millennium Bridge… I could go on. Just walk. And then you won’t miss a thing.
And my favorite London spots to spend with the kids…
I now live outside of London, but when I take my children (Aliena, five, and Caius, two) up for a treat during the school holidays, we always go to a wonderful outdoor Vietnamese noodle bar on Sydney Street in Chelsea called Phat Phuc (the name alone produces many cheeky giggles). It’s super-relaxed and speedy. And the novelty of sitting at the little stools and watching the Pho soups being made — it never seems to wear off. Then after that, if it’s summer they love to go to Battersea Park and feed the ducks, visit the charming children’s zoo and then go rowing on the lake, followed by a much-needed ice cream, before heading back home.
And my favorite London getaway…
For anyone keen to venture out of London, I cannot recommend more highly a trip to the Cotswolds. It’s where we now live and I honestly feel as though I’m on the set of the movie The Holiday every single day! Every village is completely different, with proper English pubs, little coffee shops and you will no doubt come across a gem of a shop, tucked away and hidden from the main high streets, from which you will leave laden with goodies.
Must-visit spots in the Cotswolds…
For those visiting in the summer, with or without children, you must visit Giffords Circus, who tour around the Cotswolds and Oxfordshire. I have been lucky enough to see their show every year for the past 12 years and it never ceases to amaze — wonderfully enchanting, hugely inspiring and magical beyond belief, and the most uplifting thing you will ever watch. It’s almost worth visiting in the summer purely to see this.
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