Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I have lived with Rheumatoid Arthritis since I was 26 and so have over 30 years first hand experience of the effects of living with daily pain and disability. I also have osteoarthritis. Every aspect of my life - work, relationships, motherhood - has been impacted by arthritis. That is why I am raising money for the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA). ARMA brings together patient organisations and professional bodies to support people like me living with arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions. As a trustee of this fantastic charity what impresses me is how powerful the collective voice of the MSK community can be in highlighting issues and improving access to services and treatments for patients.

Having arthritis can make exercise difficult and I have always struggled to motivate myself to do any. Because both the condition and my treatment make me severely immunosuppressed I also had to shield for a long period during the pandemic which meant I became even more unfit! So I am committing myself to walking 15,000 steps every day in November. For me this is a huge challenge. To help keep me motivated and following the example of ARMA’s collaborative approach, my son who lives in London is also going to cover 15,000 steps so together we will do 30,000 steps for 30 days. I have dug out my fitbit and signed up at our local gym so I can’t use the Manchester rain as an excuse!

If you want to learn more about ARMA & how it works you can also sign up for its annual flagship event on 6 December. Link: http://arma.uk.net/conference.
In the meantime please support this great charity and help get Jane and Max off their respective sofas!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.