This summer, at a lovely lunch party in a friend’s garden in Sussex, I was introduced to Vivien and we started talking about what she’d been doing recently.  A lot, it turned out, and all of it interesting.  She had just completed a year of 60 challenges, following her retirement on her 60^th birthday, and had written a blog about each one.  The tasks included raising money for two charities she really cares about. 

It sounded an excellent way of marking a key milestone and once I’d read her blog, I was hooked on the idea.  Over the next few months, with help from my husband Peter and various friends, I came up with a list of 60 things I’d never done before.  Some I’d meant to do or had vaguely considered for years but had never got around to.  Others were frankly scary.  To see a list of the tasks, please do visit my blog at http://60at60challenges.blogspot.co.uk/ 

The most important task is to do some fundraising, for two charities that mean a lot to me: Arthritis Research UK and Beating Bowel Cancer.  The relaxed and smiling woman in the photo is my much-loved Grandma.  Born in 1900, she developed arthritis as a
child, which steadily grew worse.  The only treatment available to her, even by the mid-1920s, was a glass of gin and orange if the pain was severe and – if she was in bed and couldn’t move – to spread
brown paper over her hips and “iron” them.  On the morning of her wedding she was bed-bound but after being ironed, was able to make it to the church – though she couldn’t kneel for the blessing.  

Despite this, she made the most of life and was determined to have fun.  As a teenager she couldn’t get on a bus without help, but she still loved roller-skating with friends at Ally Pally.  She had a job, was a gifted pianist and never complained.

Sometime around the 1940s, she took the chance to be a guinea
pig for the replacement of both her hips.  Although by today’s standards it would not have been considered a success, as she always had to walk with two sticks, couldn’t bend either leg and could move only an inch or so with each step, it made a huge difference to her as the worst of the pain was gone – permanently. 

My brother has had psoriatic arthritis for nearly 20 years and although he too never complains, he is frequently in pain and can no longer walk far – let alone run - as he always used to.  So many of my friends have arthritis of one sort or another and find their lives are now limited.  Some find the medication worse than the pain, because of the nausea it can cause.  One friend’s grandson, aged eleven, is already on crutches and as his arthritis is continuing to progress, faces life in a wheelchair – unless medical advances prove a game-changer.

The work of Arthritis Research UK offers the hope of a medical
breakthrough, as well as providing practical advice and information on how best to manage the condition.  With your help, I would like to support their work in making life fuller and more pain-free for children, adults and the elderly.