LEDBURY Rotary Club has been praised in public for its foot care programme in the Caribbean.

Foot care specialists gathered recently at Malvern's winter Gardens, for the 15th Diabetic Foot Conference, and proud Ledbury Rotarians were in attendance.

Club spokesperson, Jan Long said: "Ledbury Rotary Club has been recognised as one of the leading organisations to tackle foot care problems caused by diabetes, through its work in the Caribbean. "Rotarians John Greedy and Andrew Perry, together with Martin Perry met with Dr Kristien van Acker from Belgium and Professor Vilma Urbancic-Rovan from Slovenia, to discuss future visions and support for the foot care projects."

She added: "Dr van Acker is an authority on diabetic Foot care and has led numerous diabetic ‘StepbyStep’ training courses with Professor Urbancic including the very successful ‘ StepbyStep’ and ‘ TraintheFoot Trainer’ programmes held in Brazil and the Caribbean, promoted by the Rotary Club of Ledbury.

"Dr van Acker presented a paper in which he highlighted the huge reduction in the number of lower limb amputations caused through diabetic ulcers in the Caribbean which has come about through the Ledbury Rotary Club project. He publicly praised Ledbury's efforts in focusing on preventative care and health awareness."

For over a decade, Ledbury Rotary Club has supported medical awareness programmes in the Caribbean which teach people the danger signs that could lead to diabetic ulcers and even amputations.

The Caribbean is a particular problem area for diabetes.

The illness can cause a loss of sensitivity in feet, which in turn can lead to foot injuries going un-noticed and the development of serious ulcers, which can then be hard to heal.