John and Kathleen Dunn are to celebrate 25 years of marriage this year - but not in the conventional manner.

They have decided to abandon the frivolous fun of a silver wedding party for the more serious ambition of fund-raising

The couple, from Riddlesden, have set up Diabetes Keighley, a branch of Diabetes UK.

And they are passionate about making it a success because they know all about the impact of the disease on families and want people to know how widespread it is in the community.

Their 20-year-old daughter Sarah, a recruitment canvasser at the Keighley News, has been a diabetic since she was 16.

And she shares an office with two other women suffering from the condition.

Her colleague, sales service canvasser Wendy Edgar, of Silsden, a 43-year-old mum, has been a sufferer for 28 years.

It has left her blind in her right eye, with impaired vision in her left, and she has undergone a kidney transplant.

Advertising sales manager Suzanne Godbeer, 35, of Menston, was diagnosed in 1997.

Mrs Dunn, 45, said: "When Sarah was diagnosed it was a nightmare. We both felt that if we could have taken on the disease for her we would."!

"It was Kathleen's idea to start Diabetes Keighley," said her husband John, 49.

"Ever since Sarah was diagnosed we always intended to do some fund-raising."

Sarah needs to inject insulin about six times a day to control her blood sugar levels.

"It messes up your life. I don't feel the same as when I didn't have it," said Sarah.

"You have to be so careful, especially when going out and having a drink. And you can get paranoid about eating at the right time."

Major problems struck Mrs Edgar after having her son Adam, who is now 16. She suddenly lost the sight in her right eye.

"I was at work typing when I got the sense that a curtain was coming down in front of my eye and my sight was gone. It was very frightening," she said.

"Later I got a kidney infection which was as a result of the pregnancy, and I had to have a transplant.

"But thankfully now treatments are much better and I think people getting the disease have a lot less chance of developing the complications that I got," she added.

Mrs Godbeer was diagnosed after she developed a blemish on her ankle, which can be a sign of diabetes.

"I wasn't too bothered and then I realised the complications which can develop relating to sight, circulation - diabetics are more prone to heart attacks and strokes," she said.

Diabetes Keighley's first fund-raising event is a three peaks walk on Saturday, June 21.

Sponsors are being sought and anyone who can help is urged to e-mail Mr and Mrs Dunn on dunny21@btopenworld.com or telephone 01535 600310.