Hi there, my name is John and I’m going to attempt to walk the 96 mile West Highland Way to raise funds for the Edinburgh branch of the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS). Axial Spondyloarthritis is a type of chronic inflammatory arthritis that primarily affects the spine and the sacroiliac joints but also affects all other joints of the body causing pain, stiffness, reduced movement, fatigue and, in advanced cases, complete fusion of the affected joints. NASS is a registered charity that provides a weekly group exercise routine for sufferers of this condition that is supervised by professional physiotherapists at the Western General Hospital’s physiotherapy department in Edinburgh. Our branch receives no funding from the government or any other outside body (Big shout out to the the people at the Western General Hospital who generously allow us to use their gym and hydrotherapy pool free of charge) so it is up to the members to fund the branch in order to pay for the physiotherapists and their assistants expertise in providing specialist hydrotherapy and gym classes. NASS is a charity that is very close to my heart because, as a sufferer of Ankylosing Spondylitis, I am a weekly participant of the physiotherapy classes that the Edinburgh branch provides. (Ankylosing Spondylitis is an advanced form of Axial Spondyloarthritis). The group of people that organise and run these classes are a fantastic bunch but we, as members, can’t expect them to do it for free. So I am trying to raise money to ensure that we can continue to provide these classes for the estimated 1 in 200 people that are affected by this condition. As a sufferer of this condition, I expect that the West Highland Way will be extremely challenging but with your support I am confident I can rise to this daunting challenge.

Cheers John Foley

Onwards and upwards.