A community organisation rooted in Cumbernauld
Vibrant Health Advocates – Lyra is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation based in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. We were established to address a clear and pressing gap: people receiving a diabetes diagnosis often leave clinical appointments with advice they fully intend to follow, but without the practical skills, social support, or local resources to actually do so.
Grounded in practice, not leaflets
Vibrant Health Advocates – Lyra is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation based in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. We were established to address a clear and pressing gap: people receiving a diabetes diagnosis — or managing the condition for years — often leave clinical appointments with advice they fully intend to follow, but without the practical skills, social support, or local resources to actually do so. For residents of Cumbernauld, a new town designed around the car rather than the corner shop, that gap can feel particularly wide.
Our approach is grounded in the understanding that behaviour change happens through practice, community, and encouragement — not leaflets. Everything we do is hands-on, participatory, and rooted in the real circumstances of the people we work with. We do not assume everyone has a well-equipped kitchen, a flexible schedule, or a high income. Our workshops use affordable, accessible ingredients, are held in local community halls and faith buildings, and are timed to suit shift workers and carers as well as those who are retired.
We work closely with NHS Forth Valley diabetes teams, local GP practices, Cumbernauld Community Forum, and North Lanarkshire Council's health improvement officers to ensure our provision complements clinical care rather than duplicating it. Referrals come from health professionals, self-referrals, and word of mouth — a reflection of the trust the organisation has built over years of consistent, respectful, community-led work in this town.
NHS Partnership
We work alongside NHS Forth Valley diabetes teams, ensuring everything we do complements clinical care rather than duplicating it.
Community-Led
Referrals come from health professionals, self-referrals, and word of mouth — a reflection of the trust built over years of consistent work in this town.
Always Free
Every programme we deliver is free to attend. Good diabetes management should be accessible to everyone, regardless of income or experience.
Where it all started
Grown from a community centre kitchen
Vibrant Health Advocates – Lyra grew out of conversations in a Cumbernauld community centre kitchen. A small group of local residents — some living with diabetes themselves, others supporting family members — recognised that the structured education programmes available through the NHS were valuable but finite: a course ends, and then you are on your own.
They began meeting informally to cook together, share recipes that worked for their blood sugar, and talk honestly about the daily challenges of managing a long-term condition in a town where fast food is easy and fresh produce less so. Word spread quickly. Within a year, the group had outgrown its informal roots and registered as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation, giving the work a formal footing and opening the door to grant funding, proper governance, and the ability to employ a part-time coordinator.
Today, that same spirit of practical generosity runs through everything we do. We are still the organisation that believes the best support happens when people who share an experience sit down together — but now we do it with trained facilitators, formal governance, and proper resources behind us.
Our mission
Vibrant Health Advocates – Lyra exists to improve the health and wellbeing of people living with diabetes in Cumbernauld and the wider North Lanarkshire area by providing practical, community-based cooking and lifestyle education that translates clinical guidance into sustainable everyday habits. We believe that good diabetes management should be accessible to everyone, regardless of income, cooking experience, or how recently they were diagnosed, and we work to ensure that no person in this community has to navigate the condition alone or without the skills they need to live well.
— Our mission statement
Governed by the community it serves
Vibrant Health Advocates – Lyra is governed by a voluntary Board of Trustees who bring together professional expertise in health, finance, and community development with lived experience of diabetes and deep roots in the Cumbernauld area. They are supported by a small staff team and a committed cohort of trained volunteers, many of whom first came to the organisation as participants. Together, they ensure that every decision we make — from which community venues to use to which recipes appear in our workshops — reflects the real needs and preferences of the people we serve.
Interested in joining our Board?
We are always glad to hear from people with relevant experience — particularly in health, finance, communications, or lived experience of diabetes — who would like to contribute to our governance.
Get in touchTake the first step — we are here to help
Find out about our free programmes, refer someone you support, or simply get in touch to learn more about what we do in Cumbernauld.
Get in touch