A warm welcome for NASS at the Westminster Parliament on a very cold 1st December 2010
It was a bitingly cold day with a sharp wind but there was indeed a warm welcome at Dining Room A in the House of Commons for everyone attending the very first NASS reception for our members and supporters. The event was hosted by the MP Andrew George who himself has AS and who speaks from personal experience when he talks to NASS members. Andrew has been working with NASS for some time to raise awareness of AS and of the challenges that it presents.
Andrew introduced the NASS Chairman, Hedley Hamilton, who thanked the many NASS donors, supporters, volunteers from the branches and health professionals present for all their hard work and generosity in helping to make 2010 a year of very special achievement for NASS.
The highlights of the year have included the launch of the Looking Ahead report; our first ever World AS day event - NASS en Masse; the publication of the new exercise pack, Back to Action and the completion of our new website.
Professor Paul Wordsworth finished the speeches by focusing on the dramatic advances that have taken place in recent years, both in treating AS and in our understanding of the genetics of the condition. He publicly thanked NASS members for their help in giving the genetic samples which have made the work on the genetics of AS possible (blood samples have now been replaced by a "drool" sample - a phrase familiar to many members of NASS.)
I would like to thank everyone who joined us for the event for making the effort to be there - especially those who had a very long journey. I think Helen Matthews holds the record as she set out from Craigellachie in Banffshire to join us - and made it.
I would also like to welcome the interest of the MPs who came along to hear at first hand from one of their constituents what living with AS means: Roberta Blackman Woods, Nicola Blackwood, Robert Buckland, George Hollingbery, Caroline Lucas, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mark Prisk, Chloe Smith, Justin Tomlinson and Simon Wright.
Jane Skerrett
Director
Click on the image below to view photographs from this event
