Judy Carthew, who has stepped down from the chairman’s role, said she was “very disappointed” that the group could fold, and  encouraged anyone who could step into the position to put their hand up.

“I’ve been the chair for nearly 18 months and I told them I would do it for that period of time, but not from the beginning of this year,” Mrs Carthew said.

“It is frustrating. I’m very disappointed because the group has raised a lot of money over the years.

“We were instrumental in getting funds and helping build the diabetes centre (at Tamworth hospital) in the first place.

“It has been a very active group and, you know, it has been able to give support to people newly diagnosed with diabetes”.

Mrs Carthew chaired the group’s annual general meeting in November and advised members that she could only remain in the position until March.

Letters were sent to members to try and get someone to nominate – but no one has.

Another meeting was held on March 10 but again no one nominated for chairman.

Mrs Carthew said hundreds of thousands of dollars had been raised in the group’s 40 years.

“Over the years, we’ve given a lot of financial support to the diabetes clinic – just last year we purchased monitors for them which amounted to $6000 so, without that ongoing support, the funds won’t be there,” she said.

Anyone interested should ring Judy Carthew on 6766 1593 or 0407 467 678.