The presentation was in appreciation for all the work that she has done, intaking diabetic care from being none existent in the 20 th Century to the fantastic facilities we now enjoy in the 21st.

The Quaich was engraved “Alison, for diabetic care, Friends of the Manx Diabetes Centre” and the date. It is interesting to note that the Quaich was engraved with the date 05.05.05.

The Chairman, in introducing Alison to those present, explained how after much pressure she had been appointed on 1 st September 1991 by the then Minister for Health and Social Security Mr Bernie May.

The Chairman emphasised that all diabetics on the Isle of Man owe Alison an immense debt of gratitude for her inspiration, guidance and hard work in the establishment of the Manx Diabetes Centre as we know it today.

He said that Alison did not shirk her responsibilities and rising to the occasion set the foundations for the Manx Diabetes Centre that started from nothing, and through tenacity and perseverance in the face of tremendous opposition from the DHSS, brought us all through to enjoy modern day diabetic care.

Mr Ramagge pointed out that it had taken him 10 years of arguments for the appointment of Alison, and another 9 years from the appointment of Alison to the establishment of the Manx Diabetes Centre at the Old Ward Block at Noble's in the year 2000.

Through all these years Alison, he said, was at the cutting edge of the pressure and debate to make the Centre possible.

Alison, he was adamant, was not only a credit to her profession but she was the unrelenting champion of her Manx People, and words could not do justice to her legacy on behalf of the Manx Diabetics.

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The Chairman ran though the figures for the attendances at the Manx Diabetes Centre with thousand and thousands of patients now being seen by all departments during the course of a year.

He asked the Question “What did all these thousands of people do before the advent of the facilities that we have today at the Manx Diabetes Centre”? Where did they go? They had been left to their own devices when diabetic care was none-existent.

At the time Diabetologists from across the water working with him pointed out that the care being received by the Manx diabetic from the Manx DHSS, was in the dark ages.

But the more important question the Chairman insisted was “What would all these thousands of people that attend the Centre today do if it was not there?”

Let us therefore, he reminded those present, never to forget, that no diabetic care, absolutely nothing, would be in place today without Alison.

Alison was responsible for a Centre that started in a dingy little room in the basement at Old Noble's fourteen years ago, and blossomed into the Manx Diabetes Centre that is the envy of Diabetes Centres across the water, and which without Alison today's Centre would never have been possible.

The Chairman was of the firm opinion that when some of us are long gone, or some may have left the Island , people will still be singing the praises of a true Manx Lady who had the vision and the interests of her Manx people at heart.