I was diagnosed with vasculitis in January 2017. While I've been ill, I've been crocheting in clinics and on the chemo infusion ward, as well as at home. I started to learn just before I got ill and I've now given up knitting: that's how good it is!

I have a form of vasculitis that has affected my eyes, joints, sinuses and lungs: GPA or granulomatosis with polyangiitis. There is no cure and the treatment has lots of side effects but I'm hoping to be in remission very soon. It's a rare disease and hard to find good information, so I was relieved to find out about Vasculitis UK. It's been difficult to take in what they tell me at the hospital when I've been feeling poorly, and the information on the Vasculitis UK website is always there to check through. In addition it has been really helpful to share experiences with others in the online forums. Yesterday I was asking others how to stop myself choking as that seems to be happening more often, and offering thoughts on what to do when you're awake in the night and feeling low. 

When people started asking me who my cushion was for, I thought why not use it to raise funds? It's made from a cotton/nylon yarn and is 42cm across, approximately. The front is the mandala pattern in photograph and the back is plain dark blue. 

I'm going to the Cambridge Vasculitis Support Group meeting on April 21st and we will draw the winner there. So if you want to be in with a chance of owning the cushion, be sure to make your donation before midnight on April 20th. 

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.