Everyone Likes A Little Something For Nothing

This year saw our very first
‘Natter with NASS’ in June.
We asked people to hold a tea
party and talk to their family
and friends about AS.
We had some wonderful
feedback from everyone
who took part, the main
theme that seemed to come
through was that friends
and family who weren’t fully
aware of how AS affected
them were incredibly supportive and kind.
Juliette Leach, former NASS trustee said “It went really well and
I was able to fill my friends in about AS and my experience. Noone had heard of AS before and were amazed that I suffered from
anything as I don’t talk about it and I am often called ‘Miss Energy
Bags’, particularly on the tennis court! As an aside, we had a
raffle and cake sale and made £60. Everyone went home with a
prize and with a much better understanding of AS.”
Next year we hope to see more of the same and are asking you to
hold a tea party during the month of June, which will culminate in
the patient Conference in Birmingham where you can have a real
Natter with NASS.
Coming
up
e... Ben Fifield is doing
A few more events are yet to com
time supporter and
long
a
is
Ben
the London Triathlon –
Royal Parks Half Marathon;
brother to Jane who is doing the
in Hood Half Marathon
Anna Briggs will be doing the Rob
ws!; Gerry Dance will
– watch out for the bows and arro
– do we even need to
on
hath
Mat
be doing the Loch Ness
Jane Fifield, Rose McGinness
mention Nessie?!; Lisa Breshnan,
in the ever popular Royal
& Katie Odgaard will be taking part
ph Wesley will be on
Jose
n;
Parks Foundation Half Maratho
city’s half marathon;
the
ing
runn
the streets of Birmingham
will Run to the Beat around
Fiona Fitzpatrick & Vikki Gardner
g on Hell Runner.
London and Iain Campbell is takin
Everyone likes a little something for nothing...
Cartridge recycling – This is
a simple but very effective way
of raising money. All you have to do is email [email protected], we’ll
send you an envelope, pop your empty cartridges in the envelope
provided and send them off in the post. And the best thing? It
costs you nothing and NASS get £1 for every cartridge and up to
£30 for every mobile phone. If you have larger print cartridges at
home, or work somewhere that you could collect larger volumes
of cartridges, Recycle4Charity can also provide boxes. Just tick the
box on the back of the bag when you send in your cartridges and
they will send one box or 10 bags to you for free. Alternatively go
to www.recycleforcharity.co.uk to order bags and boxes. You will
find a recycling envelope inside this edition of the newsletter.
to support NASS and reduce your tax bill at the same
time. If you donate shares to NASS you can get tax
relief on your donation and you may also qualify for a
reduction on any Capital Gains Tax that may apply. If you would
like to donate shares to NASS please contact us on 020 8948
9117 or send an email to [email protected].
Affilyon – This is a new search engine powered by Yahoo
The Giving Machine – When you shop online via TheGivingMachine,
which donates half its advertising profits to charities.
Supporters must use the specially created search engine for
NASS which can be found here: http://sites.affilyon.co.uk/
NationalAnkylosingSpondylitisSociety
Ebay for Charity – Have you got some items around the house
that you just don’t want anymore? How about selling them on
ebay and donating 10% to 100% of your profit to NASS. Why
Give it a try by registering at www.ebay.co.uk and choosing NASS
as your charity.
TopCashBack - www.topcashback.co.uk is a shopping site
whereby members can get cash back on any purchases made.
You can also elect to donate your cash back to a charity. NASS is
registered with this site and so you can start shopping and start
donating!
Give as You Live – A part of Everyclick, this is a service which
allows you to raise money as you shop. Simply
go to www.giveasyoulive.com and when you’ve
set up an account you’ll be ready to shop! A wide
variety of retailers are involved such as Apple,
Tesco Direct and British Airways, each giving
a percentage of the purchase to NASS. When
you have signed up don’t forget to share on Facebook, Twitter,
GooglePlus, Linkedin or by email and earn an extra £5 for NASS
for every friend that signs up!
Easyfundraising.co.uk – This is both an online shopping website
and a search engine. Fixed percentages or amounts for any online
purchases made through the website will come directly to NASS.
There are literally thousands of retailers to choose from including
big names such as Tesco Direct, Amazon and Blockbuster. To sign
up go to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/nass.
Sharegift – Giving shares is a simple and effective way
a sales commission is received from the participating shop. 75%
of this is converted into a donation on your behalf and sent to
your NASS. 25% is retained to contribute to costs of maintaining
the website and distributing donations. When you sign up just
choose ‘National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society’ as your chosen
beneficiary. Sign up at www.thegivingmachine.co.uk.
Everyclick.com – This is a search engine which
gives money to NASS when you do an online
search – simple as that! To use Everyclick as
your search engine go to www.everyclick.com/
nass.
Give a Car – NASS is working with fundraising initiative Giveacar,
which can tow away your unwanted car and donate the profits to
NASS, and it won’t cost you anything!
How it works:
Step 1 – Contact Giveacar via www.giveacar.co.uk to let them
know you would like to donate your car. Don’t forget to select
NASS as your charity of choice - you can choose to donate
anything from 10% to 100% of the cash from your car to NASS.
Step 2 – A truck will arrive within 1 to 3 days to pick up your
vehicle.
Step 3 – The vehicle is then disposed of in an environmentallyfriendly way either through recycling scrap or auction.
Step 4 – Giveacar will donate the proceeds (after administration
costs and VAT) to NASS.
active
NATIONAL
ANKYLOSI NG
SPONDYLIT IS
SOCIETY
Issue 2 | Autumn 2012
Thank you to all our wonderful supporters who have raised
money for NASS over the past 12 months, without you we
wouldn’t be where we are today.
Rob does more than his bit for NASS
Regular visitors to the website will recognise the name Rob Garrihy.
For those of you who don’t, Rob is a teenage member of NASS
who has AS. At just 19 years of age Rob has already had 2 hip
replacements having been diagnosed at the age of 12. He has not,
however, let this stop him....
Back in March Rob and his friend made a video talking about
being diagnosed with AS, how he coped and his life now. This
video went viral, appearing on social networking sites such as
Vimeo and Facebook as well as the NASS website of course, in
the ‘Your Stories section’.
As if this wasn’t enough, in May this year Rob completed a
walk which he organised himself from Harpenden to St Albans
and back again – the distance of a half marathon. He was
joined by his friends Luke Evans and Simon Cain and managed
to raise £1,200 for NASS.
Rob’s condition has managed to set him back a bit. He had to
have an operation to replace his left hip, which meant that he
missed about six months of school in April 2010 and then last
year he had a similar operation on his right side, again missing
months of school, having to use crutches.
Rob has had to put a stop to attending running club and his
passion for playing rugby, but will not to let his condition
get in the way. He said: “I started to notice that I was not
moving so well because of the pain in my hips. It annoyed me
because I realised that I could never play or fulfil my ambitions
at sport, but it could have been worse. There are other people
worse off than me.”
He started to walk again in September 2011 just in time for
the new school term, and visited every year group assembly
at school and briefed school staff about AS. He has now found
out that he has been nominated by his school to be Young
Person of the Year (YOPEY) for Hertfordshire, a contest created
to give younger generations a fairer image and encourage
young people to give to the community. The YOPEY will win
£800, with £400 for themselves and £400 for their good
cause.
Rob has been accepted by Loughborough University to study
psychology and starts studying there in October, where
he hopes to continue raising awareness of AS. Rob told us,
www.nass.co.uk
“This felt like the
culmination of a
long journey and
just proves that
sufferers of AS
can still achieve
anything they put
their mind to and
that we don’t have
to let AS control or
inhibit our goals.”
Rob Garrihy
Thank you Rob for everything you have done for AS and
NASS – you truly are an inspiration. Best of luck in the
contest, you deserve it.
Fabulous Fundraising
from Lindsay & co
Thank you to Lindsay Streeton and the Lowe family
including Gary, Daniel and Jody who have raised around
£6,000 for NASS by doing a skydive and holding a black
tie dinner for family, friends and colleagues. The skydive
was so thrilling that all 4 participants said they’d love to
do it again. The dinner, held in the Hadlow Manor Hotel
near Maidstone, was lots of fun with 100 people taking
part in various fundraising activities including a heads
or tails round, auction and a raffle, raising over £4,000.
We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who
helped Lindsay and Gary organise their event, donated
the wonderful array of raffle and auction prizes and
supported the event on the day.
UK
Thank you!
David Thom, Paul Prideaux and David Matthew, took part in the 2012
London Marathon and managed to raise a fabulous sum of £3,500 for NASS.
Gemma Hoosain, NASS volunteer, also took part just 7 months after giving
birth to her little boy.
Daniel Hall
Congratulations
to Anya Rae
on completing a
triathlon in Ayr
earlier this year.
Anya has says
that anti TNF has
changed her life,
without it she
would not have
managed to do this
triathlon. Anya not
only finished the
triathlon but raised
£165.
has completed
the Leeds Half
Marathon and the
Wakefield 10k for
NASS this year
so far, and will
be taking on the
Tougher Mudder
event in November
– 3 cheers for
Daniel!
her 3 Peaks
d raised £710 for NASS
Challenge in August an
d
at the top of a wet an
– here she is pictured
t.
hir
t-s
g off her NASS
windy Snowdon showin
Carol Roberts completed
Neil Garnett, close friend of
long time NASS supporter
Charmain Conway took part
in the Great London Swim
in July and raised over £500
for NASS. Neil managed
to complete the swim in 42
minutes and Charmain tells
us “Considering he had to
do most of it with one leg as
he had severe cramp, he did
amazingly well!”
An amazing effort from
Richard Greenhill saw
him walking the 100k from
London to Brighton in May
and raising £375 for NASS.
Thank you to
Matt Stokes for
completing the
Brighton Marathon
in April and raising
£255 for NASS. Matt
also designed our
Natter with NASS
logo – thanks Matt!
Thanks once again
to Suzie Hall for her
d
continued support an
raising £240 for NASS
when she took part
in the Milton Keynes
Marathon.
If you looked up in the sky on 28
April you
may well have seen Mel Nailor jum
ping
out of a plane and skydiving to safe
ty
raising £750. Mel also managed
to get
some coverage in her local newspap
er.
Well done
Frances Kay who
Sarah Kelly
Dan Bennett completed
the RAF Halton Triathlon and
raised £860 in memory of his
wife Kirsty’s father, Bob Collin.
(with a little help
from Donald,
pictured) went
for glory in the
NOTFAST 10k in
Newark in July
and raised £158
– thanks guys!
overcame the
horrible conditions
in the Manchester
Marathon back in
April to complete
the race and
raise over £700
in honour of her
husband Tim.
Pauline Ransome scaled
Tom McCarthy completed
the ever popular Manchester
to Blackpool cycle back in July
in memory of his grandfather
Tony Nolan. We’re sure that
Tom did his grandfather
proud, raising over £1,000.
the heights of Sydney
Harbour Bridge last year
and managed to raise a
magnificent total of £1,000
for NASS – all the way to
Sydney, that’s what you
call going the extra mile for
NASS! Pauline is supporting
NASS as her husband Dave
is a member.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
No it’s Martin Tull who
completed a skydive for
NASS back in April and
raised £145.
Nikki & Andrew Parker went
along to the 5k Family Fun Run in
the Rising Sun Country Park. This
really was a family fun run – Nikki’s
partner and Andrew’s father has
AS so they decided to raise money
for NASS. A special mention for
Andrew who is just 5 years old –
and loved telling everyone that he
was training for the Olympics.
Well done to
Kathryn Kilburn
Well done to Will Borrell
who went all the way to
Paris to take part in the city’s
marathon and raised £350 for
NASS – ooh la la!
who completed
the Brighton Half
Marathon this year
and raised £700
for NASS. Kathryn’s
dad has AS and
she wanted to rasie
awareness and
money for the
cause.
Hayley Smith is taking on one of the
most difficult challenges of all – quitting
smoking. Hayley realised that as well
as the usual dangers to your health,
smoking really affects her AS. At the
t ime of going to press Hayley
was one week in and had
raised over £350 – go for it
Hayley!
Mr George Thompson very kindly
donated money raised from his 80th
birthday to NASS in honour of stephen
Falconer, one of NASS longest standing
and best supporters. Mr Thompson must
be very popular – he raised £1,000! Mr &
Mrs Thompson are pictured with Stephen
in his NASS t-shirt.
Thank you to
Dave & Heather
Neville who
walked the length
of Hadrian’s Wall
for NASS – and
raised £682. They
chose to support
NASS as 2 of their
children have AS.
Well done to Simon Norton on
completing an Olympic distance
triathlon in June in 2 hours 50 minutes.
Simon raised £255 for NASS.
Danielle Saltmarsh
Armstrong who
Well done to Tim Mitchell and Alan
t North Run for NASS
completed the world-famous grea
to support NASS. Tim
as they both have AS and wanted
r the years Alan has
Ove
00.
raised £348 and Alan £1,0
we are very grateful to
so
ity
char
for
raised over £25,000
guys, your support
have been chosen this year. Thanks
has been great!
took on the Stansted 10k
and raised a whopping
£742 in honour of her
husband Aaron. A special
thank you also goes to
Robert Ludlow of RKL
Training Services Ltd,
Danielle’s brother, for
his incredibly generous
support.
Many happy returns to Joan Robb, wife
of long standing member Ronnie, who
celebrated her 60th birthday and kindly
asked for donations to NASS instead of gifts,
raising £266.
NASS en Masse
Thank you to everyone who came along to the
NASS En Masse events this year Over 600 people
took part in 7 events around the country. It was
great sight to behold - a sea of orange taking over
various venues.
Over 140 people of all ages and in all types of dress walked
the Portsmouth seafront on Sunday 13 May to raise
awareness of arthritis and in support of NASS en Masse and
Arthritis Care’s Amble for Arthritis.
The 3 mile walk was organised by the rheumatology team
at the Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA). We are extremely
grateful to Colin Beevor, the Matron and Service Manager
for Musculoskeletal OPD Services at QA for masterminding
the event. It was a great atmosphere with grandparents,
parents, children and lots of dogs all taking part. Both the
Portsmouth and Southampton NASS branches were in
attendance and Vic Rolfe came from furthest afield, all the
way from Gloucester to take part on the day.
The two representatives from Working at Height, Georgina
Turner and Tracey Clark, who has chosen NASS as their
charity of the year, were the first pair back to base. Ed
Bridgewater (age 10) pushed Sam Maxey (age 9) the
whole 3 miles in a wheelchair and collected donations in a
bucket on the way. Thank you Ed and Sam. The QA Hydro
team went to town with their fancy dress wearing orange
and pink tutus, tiaras and fake moustaches. Thank you QA
Hospital for a fabulous day out.
The weekend of 19 & 20 May saw events in Richmond
Park in London and Pollok Park in Glasgow. More than 80
people took part in the 5km walk around one of London’s
finest Royal Parks in Richmond and along the way walkers
had the pleasure of spotting deer and other wildlife. The
walk was topped off with awards, including best dressed to
Laura Passey and her tutu followed by a picnic overlooking
Adam’s pond near Sheen Gate for half the walkers, while
the rest went off to enjoy the garden of the Hare and
Hounds pub in Sheen.
The weather for our event in Glasgow was warm and sunny
and we had around 100 people coming along to enjoy the
walk with us followed by a picnic. Prizes were awarded to
the winners of a special iSpy game around the park.
The Manchester NASS en Masse Family Fun Day took place
at the Trafford MV Rugby Club on Saturday 26 May 2012
to raise awareness of AS and raise funds for NASS.
The day was picture perfect with the glorious sunshine
bringing families out to enjoy the array of activities
including the bouncy castle, ‘Name the Bear’ competition,
kids crafts, BBQ, face painting, multisports, cakes and ice
cream. Ingrid & Jill from the NASS team were there with
an information stand and chatted to the visitors including
Stephen Dent and his wife from the Crewe branch and Rod
MacKenzie from the local Manchester branch.
The naming of the bear was a great success thanks to the
little helpers, Mischa and Lucie, who did a fantastic job selling
names...definitely 2 volunteers of the future to look out for.
A big thanks to John Boyle, NASS member and trustee,
and his family for organising the family fun day that then
carried on into the evening with an excellent performance
from local band, Wax. Also, a special thank you to the
Trafford MV Rugby Club for generously allowing the family
fun day to take place.
2012
The Yeovil NASS en Masse and family fun day on Ryland’s
Farm was another great success with people travelling
from far and wide to enjoy the day.
Activities included a donkey talk, sheep shearing
demonstration, wood turning, country crafts, meet the
farm animals, vintage farm vehicles on display, alternative
therapy demonstrations, chat to the pharmacist, a talk
by NASS trustee and consultant rheumatologist, Dr Raj
Sengupta, and a talk by Assistant Director, Ingrid van der
Weide, as well as the 5km sponsored walk.
A huge thank you must go to James O’Brien, NASS
member and owner of Ryland’s Farm, for organising the
fun day. A lot of effort goes into organising events such as
these and we are extremely grateful to people like James
for helping to raise the profile of AS and NASS around the
country. Thank you James and his team at Ryland’s.
Saturday 15 September saw the penultimate event in the
NASS en Masse series for 2012 as the 5k walk reached
Derbyshire.100 people, including members, family, health
professionals as well as Debbie, Maddy and Jill from the
office went along to raise awareness of AS and funds
toward the GP Awareness project. Dr Chris Deighton,
President of the British Society of Rheumatology, Dr
Moorthy and Dr Das from Leicester Hospitals very kindly
came along to show their support. The walk itself was
followed by a picnic in the basking sunshine - what a
great day out!
A special thank you to Barbara Foster, Brian King and Geoff
Gaisford for their hard work in organising this event. Geoff
also appeared in the Leicester Mercury, creating even more
awareness of AS.
On Sunday 23 September 50 people turned out in awful
weather to show their support for NASS in Bute Park,
Cardiff. Despite the terrible conditions, owing to the tail
end of a hurricane out in the Atlantic, the atmosphere on
the day was very jolly with everyone wearing their best
waterproofs in preparation.
NASS team members Jill and Sally, as well as NASS Trustee
Grant Poiner, were joined by members, friends, families
and physiotherapists to take on the puddles. We also had
cup cakes for sale especially made by Hannah, daughter of
NASS Newport contact Kelvyn. These went down a storm
and pretty much everyone bought some a special treat for
when they got home - very much deserved after such a
brilliant effort.
Thank you to everyone who came along, not quite the day
we had planned but fun all the same!
A very special thank you must go to our top fundraisers
this year – Faye Sheehan, Ross Gillespie & family, Paul
Evans, Barbara Foster, Karen Watson, Wendy Convoy,
Joan & Ron Price, Bill, Holly, Victoria & Natalie Rutherford,
Eileen Hutchison, Ian Whitehorn, Kevin & Angela Fox,
Catherine McRobb, Isobel Brawley, Andrew Burrbridge,
Victor Rolfe, Kathy & Richard Miller, Mark Slaughter, Gilly
Field, Tim Nicholls, Chris Deighton, Sarah McCalister,
Jacqueline Corbrick, Julie Bain, Fiona Johnston, Marcus
Howell, Jill & Isla, Jon Lillywhite, NASS Camden and Laura
Passey. Also thank you to St John Ambulance who came
along to all of the events to provide first aid cover.
Keep a look out for the plans for NASS en Masse
2013 – plans are well underway!
Proud mum talks of
son’s challenge
by Jenny Welch
Inspired by the Paralympics my son Scott Dunton, who is just 9
years old, has decided to raise money for NASS by completing
a triathlon. On the 6 October he will be swimming 8 lengths
totalling 200m, cycling 6 miles and running 2 miles. All to be
completed one after another and on the same day.
Scott has
started his
training
and will be
chaperoned by
members of his
family on each
bit of his route;
I will be with
him swimming,
his daddy
Andrew will
support him
cycling and
his auntie Julie
will look after him running. Scott chose this charity as both his
granddad and I have AS. Scott himself faces his own challenges
on a daily basis so we are incredibly proud he wanted to do
this. Scott is pictured with his grandfather.
Orla and Catherine in
last minute swim
Orla Mannion was out and
about fundraising again for
NASS this time in the Great
Manchester Swim. Orla
took her sister Catherine
McDonagh along with
her as well and told NASS,
“I did the Great North
Swim in Lake Windemere
in 2009, applied again in
2010 but it was cancelled
and I was pregnant with
my third child in 2011 so
I was determined to do it
again this year but alas it
was cancelled again! So I
entered the Manchester
one 4 days before it and persuaded my sister to join me.”
“My training was a bit nonexistent due to a busy life with
a 6 year, 4 year and 6 month old. In fact I reckon I put my
togs on about 5 times in 7 months, and my wetsuit had been
hanging in the garage since 2009!”
“Despite all that and having little sleep due to a sick baby
that week...we did it! We finished within 4 seconds of each
other, Catherine pipped me at the post finishing in 29
minutes 46 seconds (but then she doesn’t have AS or a 6
month old baby!). It was a great day out and hopefully we
will make a habit of it!”
A special climb in memory
by Peter & David Haworth and Beth Mandebura
On Saturday 8 September, 14 members and friends of the Hawort
h
family took on the Six Peak Challenge at Buttermere. The walk was
to raise money for NASS in memory of our father Michael Hawort
h,
who sadly passed away in November 2011. Dad had suffered
from AS for over twenty years and had been an active and popular
member of Blackpool NASS group, both as treasurer and as an
enthusiastic participant in the NASS exercise classes.
Having lived in the Lake District as a family, and with Dad having
been a keen fell walker before his illness set in, we decided earlier
this year to attempt the Buttermere Horseshoe. This is a circular,
anti-clockwise loop around Lake Buttermere, consisting of 14 miles,
6 peaks and a total of 5800 feet of ascent. Given our relative fitness
(or rather, lack of) we gave ourselves a good 12 hours to finish.
We started early, whilst the clouds still mercifully covered the top
of
the first steep climb. Had the sky been clear, we would perhaps not
have so enthusiastically clambered up the hillside. A difficult ninetyminute climb was rewarded with some stupendous views of the
valleys and lakes around Buttermere, once the clouds had lifted.
The walk was not an easy one, but it was enjoyable and rewarding,
knowing that we were raising money for NASS and celebrating
the memory of our father, which was with us every step of the
way. Twelve hours, several blisters and many damp boots later, we
completed the walk in near darkness with a tot of whiskey, a round
of jelly babies and a well-deserved visit to the pub.
Including donations collected on the day from fellow walkers, we
have managed to raise around £3000, something we hope will
assist NASS to help others as they did Dad.
NASS would like to thank all the members of the team Beth
Mandebura, Peter Haworth, David Haworth, Andrew Mandebura,
Andrew Kelly, Eve Harrison, Jessica Wade, Neil Wilmer, Maryanne
Thompson, Sarah Thompson, Ricky Pollard, Richie Shaw, Paul
Mackie and Samantha Pennington.
Big Fun Run
Thank you to everyone who took part
in the Big Fun Run this year - Emma
Watson, Kelly Garrett, Eirwen & Steve
Redhead, Andrew Wilson and his
friend Samuel Rowlands (pictured),
Emma Gilchrist and Emma D’Almeida.
The Big Fun Run is a series of 5k
runs held all over the UK from July
to November. For more information
on signing up for 2013 go to www.
bigfunrun.com. Go on – give yourself
a challenge!
10 ways to raise money for NASS
without costing you a penny! (see
page 8)
Gold Challenge update
NASS joined 5,000 fundraisers and 15,000 spectators
at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford on Sunday 1 April
to celebrate the achievements of those taking part in
the Gold Challenge for various charities around the
country.
Maddy and Jill went along to cheer on not just those taking part
for NASS but all of those who are giving their time and efforts
to raise money. The commitment shown by everyone there on
the day was certainly uplifting and the atmosphere around the
stadium was just magnificent. Around 30 100m races took place
and this was followed by a parade around the stadium involving
participants. Spectators were also entertained by beat-boxing
group the Boxettes.
We were lucky enough to have 2 participants in one of the 100m
races, and our guy Brad Henderson even won his event. Brad
was joined in the race by Stephen McIntosh and the pair were
interviewed afterwards. It was so incredible to see ‘NASS’ on the
big screen at the Olympic Stadium! Brad and Stephen are part of
Team Shamoo who are taking on the 2012km challenge.
Shamoo have done a wonderful job raising money for NASS –
already topping £2,000. Thank you for all your brilliant efforts guys!
Joining Shamoo were the members of Team Sebastian who are
taking on the family challenge. Five year old Sebastian and his
parents Julie Greenaway and David Cunningham took part in the
parade which was a magnificent sight to see.
Sebastian, Julie and David completed their challenge by running
1500 metres at their nearest Sport Relief venue. They’ve booked
their trampolining challenge at their local leisure centre and
are looking at the safest way to complete their third and final
challenge: the 10km cycle.
The Gold Challenge is a national initiative to get as many people
taking part in Olympic themed events as possible and raise money
for your favourite charity. You can take part in The Olympic Sport
Challenge by trying out different Olympic sports,
either as an individual or as a team.
It’s not too late to take part in the Gold
Challenge – if you’ve had a bit of Olympic fever,
check out the NASS website for information on
how to take part.
On the theme of the Olympics, we also wanted
to give a special mention to Stephen Cook
(right), a NASS member who took part in both
the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.
My 21.6 miles swim across Loch Lomond
by Craig ‘Wild Spirit’ Nobes
The swim was epic to say the least! The weather was in our favour
and with the support crew feeding me every 30 minutes to keep
the energy up, motivating me along the way, making me laugh especially when Scott fell in! It all The team were brilliant - all I had
to do was keep swimming. This became tougher after 2 hours, I
picked up a strain in my left shoulder and could only do a half stroke
with this for next 5 hours until the painkillers kicked in. I knew the
challenge was never going to be easy so it did not worry me.
I have seen the effects at first hand of this disease and problems
it brings both physically and mentally which can have such an
When I reached Luss at the 15 mile mark it was going well but
enormous effect on lives. In the past I have run, cycled, walked
from then on it really became very tough - darkness fell and the
and driven for charity so next step was a swim. Over the past 3
swimming slowed and I felt as though I was getting nowhere. I
years I have continually stepped up my preparation to achieve this had to keep asking Barry ‘Am I moving?’. Soon it was pitch dark
goal. I started training in earnest on Boxing Day 2012, entering
and we could see the lights of the finish still a distance away. The
Loch Goil in the ice and snow. From then until the first week of
water was turning against us and tiredness was setting in.
August I did nothing but swim 4 - 6 times a week and from March
We finished in 18.5 hours and 00.50 in morning. This was never
trained strictly in open water outdoors.
going to be a easy challenge it was a team effort for AS and the
I was doing early mornings, late evenings, long endurance swims, support and great donations made to this cause has made it all
rough seas - all in way of preparing me for the different situations worthwhile. A big thanks must go to my wife Michelle, the crew,
and weather conditions I might come across. Everyone I know
Jill Hamilton of NASS, Alex Gillespie and to Hunter Demolition and
thought I was mad for doing this, but this is what I do - I research, Jim Cairney who had the faith in me and covered all costs involved
study, prepare and train so it is all very natural to me - and I love
and encouraged me right at the start to do it. To quote Rocky
the outdoors and outdoor swimming so this helps.
“There will be no rematch” but we have done this for everyone
with AS. I know that my pain after the swim will pass but for
On the day I had a support boat, a road crew and kayak. These
people with AS it will continue.
helped me with safety, the route and keeping me fed. They were
all hand chosen for their role so a special thanks to Ross Gillespie,
A massive thank you to Craig and his team for such an amazing
Euing Pringle, Barry Cullen, Scott Cairney and Tom Nobes.
effort and for raising £1,200 at the time of going to print.
On 25 August at 6.30am I entered Loch Lomond at Ardlui
with the aim of swimming the entire length to Balloch - a
distance of 21.6 miles. The reason for this challenge was
to raise awareness of AS, raise money for NASS and to give
support to my great friend Ross Gillespie who suffers from
this condition.