Happy Birthday NRAS! Thanks for the Memories!

Hello there, EmmaN from Membership here.

It’s been a while since I wrote my last blog and it seems as though in the crazy world of NRAS a lot has happened, including the 10th Birthday lunch, which I was really sad to have missed as I would have liked to meet you all, looking at the pictures it looked like you all had an amazing time. I did however get to try a bit of the amazing cake when I got back from my enforced time away on Jury Service!

Unfortunately this will be my last blog for NRAS. I am sad to be leaving, but hopefully will be moving on to pastures bright and new. I will take with me many memories from this year; from meeting a few of you in the office, to travelling to Shropshire to attend a fantastic group, to being involved in setting up work wise workshops and to even taking part in a tandem skydive from 13,000ft, also talking on the phone to many of our amazing Members. The memory that I will take here from the office though is of cake... cake, cake and more cake!!! Oh and don’t forget the chocolate!!! (Mentioning no names ...Katy) I have had an amazing eye opening experience this year and I am sad to leave you all behind but I do wish you all the very best for the future.

I would like to thank Gail, Sally and Katy as without them membership would have been a very dull department. So thank you girlies for your laughter, thoughts and an interesting year!

Looking back over the last year I am quite amazed with just how much Ailsa has achieved in such a short time. When I started here the idea for the Self Management Program was just being formalised with the help of the Expert Patient Programme; and now here we are, in to our 4th pilot scheme, talking to commissioners about making them a permanent fixture in their departments. We have had stalls at both the BSR conference and the European EULAR conferences, both held in London earlier in the year where we met with delegates from all over the world. Ailsa has also been instrumental in setting up the crucial 18 week pathway from GP referral to diagnosis as well as the S-Factor campaign which is aimed at improving early referrals. I am proud to have been a part of this journey with her, as well as all the other members of the team working here at NRAS. I’m sure that you will agree they are amazing!

On another note, I’m happy to report that Members will be receiving your brand new Members’ magazine in the next couple of weeks that Katy has been working hard on since she joined in May. I’m sure you will find that she has done an amazing job, so happy reading and I’m sure she will appreciate your comments very much.

The membership team are going from strength to strength here & we are now nearing four thousand Members. If you have any questions I know that Katy and Gail are ready and waiting to help you. If you need to contact Membership please e-mail membership@nras.org.uk

NRAS has now been around for an amazing ten years, here is to the next ten, which will hopefully be even better than the last!

Happy 10th Birthday NRAS!!!

Good Bye and Good Luck
Emma N
Membership Assistant