Week Ending 17th April

Versus Arthritis is now campaigning on your behalf in a big way. As a result, numbers ariving here on the Online Community and also signing up for the Newsletter and Campaign have shot up.
1. Campaign: It’s not alright – it’s arthritis
It’s not just “wear and tear”. It’s not just “aches and pains”. It’s not alright – it’s arthritis. You can join us to speak out.
So, welcome to the 80 plus (and still counting) new people who have joined the Online Community in just the last week. Our members new and old have all kept us very busy with over 270 posts in that short time. 😃
2. Television Campaign
If you haven't already caught our TV advertisement, you can see it on the front page of the website or on ITV this weekend:
- Fri 17th ITV Vera 20:30
- Sat 18th ITV The Chase 17:58
- Sun 19th ITV Belgravia 21:15
3. Self-care and staying connected
Young people with arthritis are amongst those who have been classed as ‘vulnerable’ during COVID-19. For many, this means no more school, university, or seeing friends, while some are even shielding from family members at home.
We asked Jasmine and Sammy who both have arthritis, how they're managing and what advice they’d give to others. Here’s what they said: https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/april/self-care-and-staying-connected-lockdown-advice-from-young-people-with-arthritis/
4. Managing Pain
There has been a recurring theme this week with quite a number of different posts on managing pain. Delays to operations, difficulty in accessing pain relief and how to cope with lockdown when you can't access normal Health Services have all been mentioned.
As well as asking the OnlineCommunity, we encourage you to contact our fabulous Helplines. Help is also available via our website and the article How to manage your pain at home is a great place to find resources.
5. Online Community Updates
There have been two updates to the software running our Community this week. The first is the introduction of a "Back To Top" button which can be seen just below the "Post Comment" button. On long conversations, this will save lengthly scrolling to return to the top of the page.
The second update is the introduction of an advanced community search facility. Any Feedback and Ideas about the Online Community are welcome.
6. Keep a Positive State of Mind
During these extra worrying times, we can help each other keep a positive state of mind by reaching out to each other. That’s what I want to do - there’s no need to be alone in this.
“Keep a positive state of mind, especially during these extra difficult times.”
Speaking of which, in case you missed it, here's Owain Wyn Evans ending his weather forecast for BBC North West earlier this week: Weatherman drumming
Stay safe and stay well.
Brynmor
Categories
- All Categories
- 12.6K Our Community
- 10K Living with arthritis
- 808 Chat to our Helpline Team
- 460 Coffee Lounge
- 28 Food and Diet
- 233 Work and financial support
- 6 Want to Get Involved?
- 191 Hints and Tips
- 407 Young people's community
- 13 Parents of Child with Arthritis
- 39 My Triumphs
- 130 Let's Move
- 36 Sports and Hobbies
- 245 Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- 22 How to use your online community
- 40 Community Feedback and ideas