*** Wow - target 3 accomplished 😃 You have no idea how much all the sponsorship is spurring me on !  Getting to £500 would be wonderful ..  🤞 ***

***  Wahey !  🎉 Target 2 has been accomplished - thanks so much to all my supporters 🥰. I reckon a new target of £400 might be achievable ...  ***

***  Thanks to some very generous people I'm delighted to have exceeded my initial target already 😃 Hoping to get to £250 now !!! ***

Back in February 2020 I had an MRI on my spine and hips following several years of increasing problems with my back. Thanks to Covid I didn't get the results until April and even then I just got a letter that I didn't really understand. A phone call to the Rheumatology department enlightened me a little - I had Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpA or AS for short) which meant I would have recurrent bouts of inflammation in the joints of my back and hips. Like most people, I'd never heard of AS so I did some googling to learn more about it and discovered that it's a progressive form of inflammatory arthritis which can lead to severe physical limitation, functional impairment, and decreased quality of life. Even in the early stages, where I am now, it affects daily life to quite a large degree because driving, working, cleaning or just a gentle, short walk can be very difficult. It affects around 1 in 200 people in the UK. That means it's more common than MS and Parkinsons combined, and yet public awareness remains low and there are multiple challenges in treatment, including an average 8.5 year delay to diagnosis. There is currently no cure. 

This isn't the sort of news anyone wants to hear and it's taken a bit of time to get my head around it. I decided to be as pro-active as I could to try and help myself and after more googling I came across NASS. They're a charity which provides specialist support, advice and the most up-to-date information to empower people with AS to manage their condition, which can vary from day-to-day. Their website and forum have been very helpful for me and they also provide telephone support to people, many of whom are at the end of their tether trying to manage their pain and cope with everyday life. I'd like to raise as much as possible to help NASS to continue to provide this support. 

Because the symptoms of this disease vary so much I can't commit to doing one long walk on a certain day so instead I plan to walk 100 km during January. That might not sound like very much but over the 8 months since my diagnosis I've averaged 58 km per month.

Your support would give me real encouragement, especially on the cold and wet days !   Please help me to help them - Thank you x