After months of organising, our Members Day is over for another year. Yesterday we welcomed over 60 Members, health professionals and NRAS staff to Solihull College in Birmingham for a day full of informative presentations and opportunities to chat with others living with RA. We were lucky to have the excellent Dr Holly John who presented on the cardiovascular impact of RA followed by a series of workshops on exercise, podiatry, side effects of RA drugs and welfare reforms. All were led by health professionals who had given up their time to speak to our Members. We are delighted that all those attended enjoyed their day and it's always lovely to have good feedback from our Members, both via Facebook, Health Unlocked and our feedback forms. Organising events is always hard work (in my spare time this month I've organised a 1920s party for a big birthday as well as starting to plan two christmas parties) but I've got a great team behind me who make things easier. Better start planning our 2014 Member's Day....!
It's always good to have the chance to meet our members and hear their stories and I've been busy this month doing just that. Last week I was at the Worcester group meeting talking about what NRAS does for RA patients and next week I'll be doing the same for the St Helens group. Our NRAS groups go from strength to strength with new ones launching all the time! On Tuesday NRAS Surrey held its information evening with over 75 attending and at our Medway launch on Monday we have over 100 registered to attend and a waiting list for cancellations. The Volunteer Network team are already planning new groups for later this year and for 2014 so watch this space!
Our new NRAS lottery is already proving to be popular with our supporters and we have had lots of calls from people wanting application forms. With a 1/63 chance of winning a prize, it's a much better bet than the national lottery so I know what I'll be playing from now on :o) NRAS Members can find a leaflet in their autumn magazine, which will be landing on doormats in the next few days. Alternatively, visit our website nras.org.uk to follow the link and sign up online or give us a call on 0845 458 3969 to get a form by post.
Finally I'd like to welcome our new Media & Communications Officer, Daniela, to the NRAS team - I hope you enjoyed your first week with us!
Happy weekend to you all!
Best wishes
Emma
NRAS Membership Supervisor
Prescription Charges - NRAS Policy Work
There's still time to register for the Edinburgh & Lothians NRAS Group launch & information evening - 3rd September!
