As always a huge thank you to everyone who took part in an event and raised money for NASS. 2011 has definately been a bumper year - lets keep it up in 2012!
Silence is golden!
A massive thank you to Jo Edge who raised a whopping £932 for NASS when she managed to stay silent for a whole 48 hours. That is an amazing achievement - have you ever tried to stay quiet for 2 minutes and when you think it is done, you realise it was less than 1 minute? Try it, and see how hard it really is, and how well Jo did.
London to Hastings for Katrina
In what is proving to be a popular year for cyclists supporting NASS, Katrina Whittaker took part in the London to Hastings cycle ride on 7 August. Katrina chose NASS as a good friend of hers has AS.
Tim, Nigel & Lisa in a Great North Run
The Great North Run proved popular again with NASS supporters as Tim Mitchell, NASS member, took part sporting the NASS colours on September 18. Tim was joined by fellow NASS member Nigel Rickaby - joined by his daughters Grace and Victoria in the junior versions and Leon Wheeler. Lisa Keniger also took part. Lisa is the daughter of long-time NASS member Michael Doherty.
A big climb for Ann!
NASS member Ann Jefferis took on the challenge of a lifetime starting on 10 October when she made the amazing trip to Mount Everest Base Camp. To support Ann visit http://www.justgiving.com/Ann-Jefferis. Ann has already raised nearly £800, thank you Ann!
Fun times for Ricky
Another NASS member Ricky White did his first run when he took part in the Big Fun Run, a 5k run, in Victoria Park on 2 October 2011. Ricky raised £478. To read about the trials and tribulations of training for a run with AS read Ricky`s blog.
Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon 2011
We had 4 runners competing in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon this year.
Rachel Inkster's husband has AS and she ran in his honour. Rachel is no stranger to raising money for NASS, she raised over £1,000 when she took part in the inaugural NASS en Masse in 2010.
Maurice Whittaker has AS and at 40 is feeling fitter than he ever has!
James Jerman has recently been diagnosed with AS and wants to support NASS and raise awareness.
David Barnett also has AS and so far has competed in 2 half marathons for NASS, raising over £1,000 in the process!
Gunn-ing for success
Craig Gunn and his team of 14 friends and family scaled the heights not once, not twice but THREE times in 24 hours when they completed the Three Peaks challenge on 11 June 2011. The Three Peaks in question are Scarfell Pike, Ben Nevis and Snowdonia.
They managed to raise an enormous £5,000 - massive thanks to Craig and crew for raising all this money for NASS. This is not the first time that Craig has supported NASS having managed to get AS a full spread in the Daily Mail (who he works for) last year.
Say hello to Gary the Gorilla
Well done to Anthony Walsh, NASS member, who raised £1,300 for NASS when he took part in the Brighton Marathon in April, dressed as a gorilla no less. Thank you so much for a wonderful effort, you must have been boiling!
A very happy birthday Stephen
Stephen Falconer celebrated his 40th birthday on 22 June this year and at the same time raised money for NASS.
Stephen is a NASS member and decided he wanted to raise money for NASS as he doesn't feel AS is a condition particularly recognised in Northern Ireland where he lives. He certainly reached his objective though and managed to get coverage in his local newspaper Londonderry Today which you will all agree is a great achievement - we all know how important raising awareness of AS is! You can read the full article on the Campaigning section of the NASS website.
Even more great news - Stephen managed to raise £2,300 for NASS with a little help from the Faughan Valley Line Dancers (pictured). Thank you so much to Stephen, his family and friends for being so incredibly generous and donating so much money.
Catherine & friends walk 70 miles for NASS
Catherine and her friends Sylvia and Elaine raised £2,002 for NASS when they walked along the Forth Clyde and Union Canals. Catherine chose to support NASS as her daughter Catriona has AS.
Danny & team swim for across the Thames
Danny MacFarlane and friends David Hadrava and Stuart Bradney completed the Great London Swim on July 2. You probably all know that Danny has been a long standing NASS supporter, speaking at our 2009 patient conference. Well they have managed to raise an amazing amount of over £3,000 for NASS!
Even more ‘thank yous’
Stephen White raised £357 taking part in the Bath Half Marathon in March, while Rachel Hirst raised £450 in the same event.
Ginny Corfield and Anna Osborne raised £570 when they took part in the Wilmslow Half Marathon in March.
Sarah Le Good was the only NASS representative in the 2011 London Marathon and raised £550 – and also managed to finish in a magnificent time of 3 hours 42 minutes!
In May David Barnett took part in the Three Forts Half Marathon and raised £527 for NASS.
Jane Humphreys organised her own NASS en Masse in Oxfordshire and raised £125, and Michael King did his own version at Beckenham Spa on the treadmill and raised £133.
Beth Mazzarani did the Geneva Half Marathon in May and raised £318. Beth tells us “I did this in honour of my grandfather Raymond Haines. He manages his ankylosing spondylitis with grace and courage and a can do attitude that sees him in the swimming pool 3 times a week His wife, my grannie (Beryl Haines) has supported him with compassion and kindness and they are both an inspiration to their family. Certainly to me.”
Well done to Jesscia Wilding for completing the Great Manchester run and raising £220 for NASS.
Greg Goddard ran the Edinburgh Marathon in 4 hours 35 minutes in honour of his wife Sandie who has AS and raised £505 in the process.
Marc Davies raised £49 taking part in the Humber Half Marathon with more donations on their way.
Kim Owen jumped from the sky on July 2nd and raised £240 for NASS in memory of her father.
Vanchya Ayris completed the Moonlight Colourthon and raised £50 for NASS in honour of his friend.
Emma Sparrow, Andrew Elcock and Steven Jones took on the London Triathlon at the end of July and raised £1,000.
Charmain Conway continues to raise money for NASS through her designing and so far has totaled £203.
Alicia Ward continued her fantastic record for NASS when she raised £1,200 swimming the length of the channel in her local pool.