About Manisha
I'm Manisha: a type 1 diabetic of over 18 years, a secondary school teacher, a podcaster, and the founder of Diabetes Squad. I've shared my story on Sky News, BBC Radio 1, and in The Sun. I've been part of awareness campaigns for NHS England and Breakthrough T1D, and been named a T1D Champion for the work I do in the community. Wherever the conversation about type 1 is happening, I want to be in it.
What makes me different from a clinician or a campaigner is simple: I live this every single day. I'm one of roughly 400,000 people in the UK with type 1 diabetes, managing it with a continuous glucose sensor and an insulin pump. I'm not the textbook. I'm the peer voice.
I'm also a builder of community. What started as a small support group for the type 1 students in my own school has grown into Diabetes Squad: an in-school programme, a podcast, and a growing network of people who finally feel understood. I've stood in front of national audiences and in front of a room full of nervous teenagers, and I bring the same honesty to both.
How I got here
I wasn't always this open about it. I was 20 when I was diagnosed. I'd been feeling more and more out of it, and on the day I got rushed to A&E, I slipped into a diabetic coma before we'd even arrived. My sugars were sky high, and things could have been very drastic if I hadn't gone in that day. I left hospital with insulin, a box of needles, no leaflet, and very little idea of what to do next.
What followed was about five years of full rebellion mode. My sugars were terrible, I wasn't looking after myself, and I didn't want diabetes to be a "thing". I never wanted to talk about it.
Everything changed when I started turning what I'd hidden into something I share. I was told teaching wouldn't be for me, that type 1 would be too much of a burden. I built a career proving the opposite. I was told motherhood might not be possible, that I couldn't keep my levels stable for a week let alone nine months. With the right technology, I went on to have a healthy pregnancy, and sharing that journey openly is some of the work I'm proudest of.
That's the thread through all of it. I talk about the real stuff: food, fitness, dating, pregnancy, the bits nobody warns you about. Because the more we talk about type 1, the more we normalise it, and the more we crush the stigma for everyone who comes after us.
Work with Manisha
If you're looking for an authentic, warm and articulate voice on type 1 diabetes, I'd love to hear from you. I'm available for television and radio, podcasts, panels and live events, written features, interviews, and campaign work, and I'm just as comfortable speaking to a national audience as I am to a classroom of teenagers.
Whether you want to collaborate, book me for an event, or just say hello, let's talk.