Week Ending 24th July

Brynmor

In News Local To Me the post-lockdown holiday season has well and truly started with famous landmarks and attractions being overwhelmed with visitors at the weekends (looking at you, Snowdon).

We are now planning to take quiet mid-week picnics (weather permitting) in the less frequented beautiful countryside and wait for the crowds to retreat again. In the meantime, I'm now using the Atlas Obscura site to plan for unusual places to visit when things return to normal and places open up again.

Gwrych Castle, Aberystwyth

1. Please Don't Roll Your Eyes at Me When I Tell You I Have Fibromyalgia

"I don’t usually tell people I have fibromyalgia because this admission is usually accompanied by the eye roll."

A great blog-post I came across from May 2018 that explains what it's like to live with a chronic autoimmune disease.

2. Exercise and arthritis - A Facebook Live Event

Versus Arthritis are hosting a Live Facebook Event for those of you who have a social media profile. It starts on Wednesday 29th July at 11:00am. The live Q&A features Dr Benjamin Ellis, Consultant Rheumatologist and Clinical Policy Advisor at Versus Arthritis, and Lili John, who lives with arthritis and has recently taken part in our 10,000 steps every day in June challenge.

You can read more about it here in our separate News article.

3. Changing Places

After previously discussing availability of public toilets as lockdown comes to an end, we were sent a link to Changing Places.

The Changing Places Consortium launched its campaign in 2006 on behalf of the over 1/4 of a million people who cannot use standard accessible toilets. This includes people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, as well as older people.

If you require access to public toilets with more than standard accessible facilities, then this web site is well worth a look.

4. Feedback

Thankyou to our members who posted on our recent Feedback request. It is quite amazing that the current version of the Online Community is only 5 months old and that so much has happened in such a short time. Do add to the discussion if you have any suggestions you would like to make.

Also, a recent request for some Online Community numbers was quite an eye-opener:

We have around 13,500 members from over the years. More importantly, between 80 - 100 members visit to read and post each day, but quite amazingly 700 - 800 visitors also come along to read your words every single day of the year.

A tremendous thanks goes to all our Volunteer Moderators who keep the whole community running. They read every post and welcome all new members who sign up.

5. Helplines

A vital service provided by Versus Arthritis is our Helplines, who provide free confidential advice and support Monday - Friday 9:00am to 8:00pm

With many of our fundraising activities curtailed by coronavirus, Helplines now needs support for its vital services through the crisis. The impact of coronavirus has meant that more people than ever are turning to our services for help.

A gift from you today could help support our vital services, including answering calls to our Helpline.

Over 14,500 people have signed up to our Impossible to Ignore campaign. People with arthritis can't ignore their pain. Let's make sure the Government doesn’t, either.

Don't forget to keep up to date with the latest advice on the Coronavirus with the latest updates on shielding advice and links to your country within the UK.

Stay safe, stay well.

Brynmor