All diabetics on the Isle of Man owe Dr Blackman an immense debt of gratitude for her inspiration, guidance and hard work in the establishment of the Centre.

Without her the Manx Diabetes Centre as we know it today, would not have been possible.

When there was nothing she sowed and nurtured the seeds for the future of diabetes care on the Isle of Man.

When the DHSS didn't want to know about the Manx diabetic, Dr Blackman was the tower of strength that all diabetics turned to in their hour of need.

Alison was the one that stood up to be counted, and rising to the occasion set the foundations for the Manx Diabetes Centre.

She started from nothing in a dingy room in the basement at old Noble's.

From humble beginnings, a room with no windows, shared by the breast prosthesis cupboard, and with the scales in the corridor, she had to do everything herself from testing urine, weighing and measuring the patients prior to their consultation.

Dr Blackman developed a working relation with the pathlab to arrange the pre clinic blood system, the microalbuminuria testing on the Island .

At a later stage two nurses were attached to the little clinic, Pat Larkham and Jan Trueland, and then Dr Blackman pushed for the need for development, and through hard work and perseverance in the face of DHSS opposition, the Centre is now the envy of Diabetes Centre's across the water.

It was the then Minister for Health and Social Security, Mr Bernie May, that appointed her to her post in September 1991 at Noble's to keep the now Chairman of the Friends of the Manx Diabetes Centre quiet, or so he thought, a big mistake.

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As the saying goes from little acorns big trees grow.

Dr Blackman did not rest on her laurels, she set about her task with unrelenting vigour and enthusiasm, and led by example.

After much cajoling and extreme pressure not only from Alison but from Member friends in the House of Keys and Tynwald, the DHSS had to succumb and abide by a resolution for the establishment of a proper Diabetic Centre with a multi-disciplinary team, with diabetologist, diabetic nurses, doctor, nurses, dietician, podiatrists, secretaries etc.

It took ten years for her appointment and a further TEN years to achieve the Manx Diabetes Centre, with Dr Blackman never giving up, she was at the cutting edge of the pressure and debate to make this possible.

Through all those years Dr Blackman, was not only a credit to her profession, she was the unrelenting champion of the Manx people, in the history of the development of diabetes care on the Isle of Man, and words cannot do justice to her achievement on behalf of us all.

Her tenacity and vision will go down in the annals of diabetic care on the Isle of Man, as the light of hope that shone through, when diabetic care on the Island was none existent.

As Dr Gill, the Consultant Physician and Lecturer in Diabetes and Endocrinology at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital , an eminent diabetologist from across the water put it, the DHSS at the time was keeping the Manx diabetic patient “in the dark ages of diabetic care”

It was Alison Blackman who brought us all through, and took us by the hand into the 21 st Century.