Newbury, September 1, 2010 – More than 70 football mad youngsters were given the thrill of their young lives when they had the chance to test out their football skills at the home of Aston Villa Football Club accompanied by 50 siblings and 140 proud parents.

The youngsters, all of whom have type 1 diabetes, went to the famous football academy at Villa Park as part of a special soccer skills day staged by Aston Villa FC Academy, sponsored by Bayer Diabetes Care and leading community website Diabetes.co.uk, and supported by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

It was a day designed to demonstrate that even though they have diabetes, it doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy exactly the same sports and activities as others. The ‘Around U’ Sports Soccer Skills Day provides soccer training and gives young people with type 1 diabetes (and their parents) the chance to meet each other and share knowledge. Around U is the programme of activities used by Bayer Diabetes Care to provide advice and materials to help children and adults manage their diabetes.

During the morning the children were given dedicated soccer coaching from ten of the academy’s top soccer coaches and a chance to tour the Villa Park football stadium, home team and visiting team changing rooms and dug-outs. In the meantime, their parents had their own tours of the football ground and listened to a fascinating talk by Dr Rupert Kenefeck from the University of Birmingham Medical School’s Institute of Biomedical Research. He talked about his JDRF-funded work which aims to examine the underlying causes of type 1 diabetes.

After lunch it was the turn of the UK’s number one professional freeride snowboarder, Chris Southwell, who also has type 1 diabetes, to talk about competing, and explain how he has not let it stand in his way when competing among the world’s top 30 elite snowboarders. Chris uses Bayer’s Breeze2 glucose testing meter to help manage his diabetes.

The children were then inspired to compete against each other in a mini football tournament, putting together some of the skills they had been practising with their coaches.

The football day focused on good control – in the same way that people living with type 1 diabetes have to keep control of their blood glucose levels to ensure they remain healthy. It was part of a series of ‘Around U’ events held by Bayer Diabetes Care to round off the summer holidays, including also some street dance days held at the internationally renowned Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden London.

Andrea Postles, for Bayer Diabetes Care, said: “It’s the third year that we’ve held this event and it’s great that it remains as popular as ever. It’s quite evident that it was the first time some of these youngsters have had an opportunity to mix with others who also have type 1 diabetes, and this gave them more confidence.”

Bayer’s Around U programme was launched in July 2008 to support children and young people living with diabetes. Designed to present useful information in a fun and exciting way, Around U provides online information as well as access to free of charge support materials through the website, www.bayerdiabetes.co.uk/aroundu.

An estimated 25,000 children under the age of 18 in the UK have diabetes . All people with diabetes are given access to Bayer’s Around U website www.bayerdiabetes.co.uk/aroundu, which provides information and access to free of charge materials.

ENDS

For further information, or more photography, please contact Andrea Postles on 01635 563031 andrea.postles.ap@bayer.co.uk

¹JRDF UK: http://www.jdrf.org.uk/page.asp?section=000100010004

Bayer Diabetes Care

Bayer Diabetes Care supports customers in 100 countries and stands in a long tradition of leading the way in diabetes care product innovation since the introduction of CLINITEST reagent tablets in 1941. The face of diabetes care was changed in 1969 when the first portable blood glucose meter and test strips were introduced. Bayer HealthCare further innovated diabetes management by being the first company to introduce a suite of blood glucose monitors with No Coding™ technology. The BREEZE® 2 and CONTOUR® blood glucose monitoring systems offer people with diabetes an unparalleled choice in diabetes management systems. Bayer Diabetes Care global headquarters is located in Tarrytown, New York, in the United States and operates as part of Bayer HealthCare LLC, a member of the worldwide Bayer HealthCare group. The Headquarters for the region Europe-MERA is located in Basel as part of Bayer Con¬sumer Care AG.

Latest products include:

• DIDGET™, recently launched in the UK and Ireland, is the first and only blood glucose meter for kids with diabetes that connects directly to Nintendo DS™ and DS™ Lite gaming systems. The DIDGET meter is designed to help kids manage this lifelong condition by rewarding them for building consistent blood glucose testing habits and meeting personalised glucose target ranges.
• CONTOUR® blood glucose monitoring system to help patients manage their condition and give them the freedom to enjoy their everyday lives.
• BREEZE®2 blood glucose monitoring system. The meter boasts key features to increase convenience for users including a 10-test disc system that delivers results within just five seconds – ideal for people who want to test on the go.

CONTOUR® USB blood glucose meter launched in the UK and Ireland earlier this year. It is the first blood glucose meter with cutting edge' plug and play’ technology and a built-in USB that inserts directly into a computer, for easy access to diabetic profiles and glucose readings.

Diabetes.co.uk

Based around a thriving community forum, Diabetes.co.uk is a leading community website and important information resource for people with diabetes. Updated daily and continually developed to enable people with diabetes to obtain answers to questions about diabetes, and to lead a healthy lifestyle. Diabetes.co.uk website receives well over 100,000 unique visitors per month and sends a free weekly newsletter to more than 30,000 registered users. The website includes the UK’s biggest community forum with around 18,000 members and a free online health monitoring system – myLifestyle – for monitoring blood glucose, blood pressure, weight and BMI, which is quick and easy to use and 100% free. Visit www.diabetes.co.uk for more information.

JDRF

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation exists to find the cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications, and is the world’s leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research. At a global level, JDRF volunteers and starff have been responsible for raising over £650 million to support type 1 diabetes research since the charity’s inception. www.jdrf.org.uk

About Bayer HealthCare

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Bayer Schering Pharma, Consumer Care and Medical Care divisions. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Find more information at www.bayerhealthcare.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.