The first ever RA Awareness Week is just days away from kicking off!

[Oli-NRAS]

Monday morning brings NRAS an exciting, new challenge. From the 24th to the 30th June, NRAS is hosting the UK’s first ever RA Awareness Week, which is solely dedicated to raising awareness of Rheumatoid Arthritis and breaking down the common misconceptions that the general public has around this disease.

Why is it important to raise awareness? Often people hear the term ‘arthritis’ and assume that RA is an older person’s disease caused by a lifetime of wear and tear. The reality, as you know, is very different and our message for the week is that rheumatoid arthritis can strike at any age.

Everyday we will be highlighting a different team from NRAS, showing off the excellent work they are doing: on Monday our attention will be on the government affairs team as we launch a new report highlighting the lack of public awareness. You will also be able to sign an e-petition and bring the issue to the attention of our politicians, the people who may be able to make a difference to the lives of those affected by RA. On Tuesday, our attention will be on our helpline who respond to several thousand calls each year from people looking for information and support, our aim of the day will be to recruit new telephone support volunteers. On Wednesday it is the turn of the volunteer network to take centre stage and many of our groups all over the country will be holding an information strand in their local hospital. On Thursday we focus on membership and what being a part of the NRAS community means to people with RA and what help they receive from the charity. Finally on Friday, and spilling over into the weekend, the fundraising team will be showing what you what you can do to raise funds for NRAS, at the same time as raising awareness of the disease. For more details visit our week page here: nras.org.uk/campaign/ra_awa...

Not only this, we have enlisted the help of our supporters and NRAS groups to undertake their own activities across the UK to reinforce our message. There are information stands, groups hosting tea parties and whole range of activities which you are all welcome to attend. To see if there is anything local to you, visit our map here: nras.org.uk/campaign/ra_awa...

Every day we will be blogging first thing in the morning about the activities for the day ahead and the simple, easy ways, in which you can get involved. Please do get involved as much as you can, all your support matters.

Obviously we want this first week to be a success, and ideally we want to hit the ground running and to do this, we need your help! Everyone who reads this who uses Twitter and Facebook, listen up, you could get RA trending on social media! Think of what that could do for awareness! Basically we have set up a Thunderclap that will enable all of us to send the same message at the same time, on Facebook and Twitter, so that our collective voices can be heard. To sign up and for more information, head over to thunderclap.it/projects/243.... Please also share with your families and friends.

Remember, this is your week and with your help it will be a success.

Oli

NRAS