Message from our CEO
As we head into 2026, I wanted to express my personal thanks to you for supporting NASS
2025 was a very good year for us. We’ve been able to support more than 5,000 people through our Helpline and Information Service. Our benefits support service has already helped around 300 people access £1.4m of disability benefits, with more to come as decisions are slowly made.
Our self-management videos, meetups and webinars have now had more than 500,000 views and our surveys show that the programme is helping to reduce feelings of isolation and is reaching those who are newly diagnosed.
We are so grateful to the many volunteers across the UK leading our branches who have ensured that well over 1,000 people have been able to access regular physio-led exercise sessions in 2025 and have been able to form strong connections with others living with axial SpA.
Last year too, NHS England formally adopted our recommended approach to reducing the time to diagnosis for axial SpA, which will help us to accelerate the improvements that we seeing in some areas right across the country. We are reaching more healthcare professionals than ever before, and have already provided training to 1,200 of them.
I hope you’ll agree that we are leading the way in driving down the time to diagnosis, transforming care for people living with axial SpA, and helping people to live well with their condition.
In 2026 we celebrate our Golden anniversary
For almost five decades, NASS has provided vital, and sometimes lifesaving, support to people living with axial SpA. This year, NASS will be 50 years old and we look forward to celebrating our Golden Anniversary.
So when exactly is our 50th anniversary? I’ve been going through the NASS records to find out.
On 15 January 1976 a meeting took place at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath involving 38 patients and healthcare professionals. It was an augural meeting ‘to initiate a national society for spondylitics’. The meeting was opened by Mr. Michael Allsop who stressed the need for a national society to ensure that the needs of patients were properly addressed, to educate the public and help patients sustain good living habits. Dr. Alan St. Dixon – who went on to become the first Chair of NASS (1976 – 1986) spoke about the need to exert pressure to replicate the Bath course elsewhere, to understand the ‘human aspects of the disease’, including family life, to exploit breakthroughs in research and to provide services.
The meeting voted unanimously in favour of creating the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society. A working group then convened to manage a launching process. A second meeting was held on the 22 January 1976 and a total of 10 meetings were held that year, focusing on fundraising, membership subscriptions (with an initial fee of £3 per year), a constitution, opening a bank account, and registering the charity with the Charity Commission. It formed a Medical Advisory Board (led by Dr. Richard Jacoby), created posters and information leaflets, and undertook fundraising include a concert given by classical pianist Peter Katin.
By June there were 49 members, by September £400 had been raised for the new charity, and on 5 November, the Charity Commission approved the registration of NASS. The management of the society’s affairs, which had been undertaken by a small committee, was then entrusted to a Council of Management which was elected at the Society’s first AGM, which was held in Bath on 4 June 1977.
So, whilst in spirit and intention NASS was formed on 15 January 1976, its legal formation was on 5 November 1976.
This year we will celebrate our history and achievements and – we hope – inspire support for our future. We will share stories from those who have been involved in NASS and honour those who have worked so hard to create change since 1976. There will be a big sponsored walk and picnic at the end of May, a conference in mid-October, as well as local and regional events, and a new online shop to buy your NASS merchandise. I hope very much to see you at one of our events.
