FRIENDS and family of a much-loved Swindon woman continued with their efforts to make a difference in her name this weekend.

Sabrina Moccia was just 33 when her brave battle with diabetes came to an end in January last year.

Since her death, Sabrina's family have worked tirelessly to ensure that her memory lives on through the work of Sabrina's Mile - a charity that is dedicated to supporting initiatives aimed at helping those with diabetes in the Swindon area.

On Saturday, her mother Luisa was joined by friends of the charity as they raffled tickets for a selection of festive prizes at Tesco in the town centre.

It was just the latest in a series of fundraising events that has seen around £9,000 raised in total.

That money has been used to pay for new equipment at Carfax Street, to send staff on specialist diabetes training and much more.

"We're continuing to work with the hospital and Carfax Street," said Luisa. "We're sponsoring the Swift courses they do which is an educational course for people with Type 1 diabetes.

"At the beginning of the year we sponsored an event the hospital did at the Holiday Inn, we helped pay for the speakers and the premises - that was also for Type 1 diabetics. It was really successful so they're looking at doing it again next year.

"We know the team well now, the consultant is lovely and we're pleased to help them. You think with hospitals that they would be able to fund everything but it doesn't work like that so they need the support."

Friends and former work colleagues of Sabrina have all spoken about how she would go the extra mile to help others in her job and her personal life and it is that approach that shapes the work of the charity in everything it does.

"She was just so kind to everybody," said Luisa. "She would be really proud of what we're doing.

"We can't just do nothing, we need to keep her legacy going.

"People have been so good and so supportive, I just really want to say thank you. None of this would be possible without them."

Supporters of the charity will gather at Coate Water again in March next year - around the date of Sabrina's birthday - for the key event in their calendar, the sponsored mile.