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Last year many of you were so generous in supporting our challenge to swim 1 mile in open water. You helped raise £1800 for the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society. The night before the swim it was all cancelled due to poor water quality but Poppy and her seeds were not to be defeated! We decided to go through with our mile and swam the distance as a family in the Serpentine in London, a fresh water lake.

I have suffered chronic debilitating pain since my late teens which increased over the years. I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis a form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine, although other joints can become involved. It causes inflammation of the spinal joints that can lead to severe, chronic pain and discomfort. AS causes inflammation, pain and stiffness in other areas of the body such as the shoulders, hips, ribs, heels and small joints of the hands and feet. Both my boys have the disease but we are determined to not let this defeat us.

This is not an easy challenge due to the AS, we cannot run the marathon but we can swim so this our way of helping.

The National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society has been a lifeline for our family and we want to help raise funds to help the charity continue to provide support, advice and information for others with AS. More than 200,00 people in the UK have AS and NASS is fighting to improve treatment and care. 

With your support we can help fund research to beat AS and find new treatments to provide pain relief for this chronic disease.

Thank you my friends. Every little helps from £1 to £100.