Page 43 - N&V Winter 2019

pathogenesis?’ After her success in March, Sunday. Elvin is a close friend of one of our but still with a replica of Excalibur!) we
we had managed to get Dr Claire Ryan to members so presented us with a cheque for were presented with a cheque for £2,405.
forgo going to a friend’s wedding in Bristol, £700 from their efforts! On top of this, our This had been raised by Masonic Lodge St
to talk about ‘A chiropractor’s perspective lovely raffle table brought in over £400; Anne’s 970 in Looe, of which DCLG
on health.’ thanks to all who donated prizes and member Geoff Bowyer had been President
bought tickets. At the end of the day a lot and who had had DCLG as one of his
Our final speaker needed little introduction.
Professor Graham Hughes’ reputation as of happy faces made their way home! We charities for the year. Thank you Geoff and
were delighted to receive on the day and wife Steph for the tremendous amount of
subsequently many words of appreciation work you put in. Just two weeks later we
for the time and effort put in by ‘the team,’ headed for Plymouth to pick up a further
particularly Secretary Mayne who had cheque, this time from Devon Masons and a
spent many hours preparing and then further £1,250 was added to our account
setting up the raffle and sales tables and (bringing another smile to our Treasurer’s
also the signing-in table (fudge included!) face!). Nicole, friend of a DCLG member,
‘The best we have attended’ and ‘you’ve ran the Plymouth half-marathon in May to
set the bar very high!’ were comments raise funds for LUPUS UK and a ‘Come
repeated numerous times. Hard work but Dine with me’ event in June organised by
one of the world’s leading experts on lupus well worth it all. Vice-Chair Niki Solomon will be reported
preceded him and ensured rapt attention on in the next issue, as will other fund-raising.
for his talk ‘Sticky blood and the lupus An outstanding few months, with thanks to
epidemic.’ Such was the depth and detail the committee, our members and supporters
of their talks that no summary would do for all that has been done. We were
them justice. However, the talks are delighted to have Yvonne and Peter Norton
available on the LUPUS UK website and in Exeter (we’ve been trying for years!), the
they are well worth viewing!
Trustees and so many old and new friends.
On arrival, everyone was presented with a We welcome anyone visiting our lovely
gift from DCLG - some hand-made Devon area over the summer to check our website
fudge! We also had some lovely home- and see if there are any activities while
made cup cakes, donated by Di West from The following day, Chair David and you are down here - we’d love to say hello!
Wales. London member Elvin Sampson and Secretary Mayne headed west, to the
two friends from his synagogue had ‘gone beautiful Cornish village of Tintagel. In Enjoy the summer - but watch out for that sun!
the extra mile’ in London the previous King Arthur’s Great Hall (not the original David Hopkins

North West

we’ve had a busy couple committee members bake a variety of cakes Our Coffee and Chat groups around the
of months here in the that went down very well. We raised a region continue. Most of our groups
North west. In January, grand total of £100.30. We also had lots continue to flourish; some have been less
eight members took part of opportunity to talk with patients and well attended recently, but we will
in a focus group with staff, raising awareness of lupus. We have persevere and hopefully drum up some
modus Outcomes, where they discussed also been to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital renewed support. We receive requests for
the development of a new questionnaire with our awareness stand. Our loyal support via our website and we also have
for people with lupus, focusing on member, Kath Dempster, who runs our an active Facebook group that continues to
fatigue. Lancaster coffee and chat group, held a get new members and is very well used.
In April, we held our AGM and coffee day on the 10th May, raising an However you spend your summer, we wish
Information Day in Garstang. We had amazing £500. Stockport based choir, Rock you well.
very interesting talks from Dr Marwan Up 2 Sing, (pictured) had a fundraising Elaine Holland
Bukhari from University Hospitals of concert, raising a fantastic £400.
Morecambe Bay trust about the BSR
Guidelines for managing Lupus and from
Irene Lewis, an occupational therapist from
Lancashire Care’s Moving Well Service
about occupational therapy for people
with lupus. We also had Kathy Gulson
and Nicola Feeney from Community
Pharmacy Lancashire talk to us about the
role that community pharmacies and their
teams play within the local neighbourhood
and the services that they offer.
At the AGM, the current committee
members were re-elected to stand for
another year, and two potential new
members expressed an interest.
For World Lupus Day, we held a bake sale
at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Several 268C

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luPus uK NEWS & VIEWS SUMMER 2019