Versus Arthritis is the United Kingdom's largest

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

supporting people with

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

. It was launched in 2018, following the legal merger of the country's two leading arthritis charities, Arthritis Research UK and Arthritis Care in 2017. According to research, 10 million people in the UK are affected by arthritis. It affects almost three in 10 men and women over the age of 55. Versus Arthritis works to help them to remain active by funding research, campaigning and providing information for patients, the public and health professionals.

History

Arthritis Care

Arthur Mainwaring Bowen founded the British Rheumatic Association (BRA) in February 1947 at the age of 25. By October, the association had 554 prospective members. Bowen’s awareness of the needs of people with arthritis began when, at the age of 19, he was diagnosed with

ankylosing spondylitis Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis from the disease spectrum of axial spondyloarthritis. It is characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine, typically where the spine joins the pelvis. With AS, eye and bow ...

. Meeting other young people with arthritis during long stays in hospital opened Bowen’s eyes to the isolation they often felt. As well as his charity work, Bowen had a career as a qualified solicitor. He died in his home in 1980. By this time, the charity had grown into a national organisation with a wide range of services for people with arthritis and was renamed Arthritis Care. In that year, ''Arthritis News'' was published for the first time. It ran to 12 pages and had an initial print-run of 35,000.

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...

became president of Arthritis Care in 2003. At the time of the merger, Arthritis Care was the UK's largest arthritis charity and ran four national offices (one each in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) with activities coordinated by an office in London. The CEO was Judi Rhys.

Arthritis Research UK

The Empire Rheumatism Council (ERC) was founded by Dr Will Copeman and other like-minded doctors on 10 February 1936 as a voluntary organisation to finance research into arthritis and all rheumatic diseases. It was incorporated in 1951 and changed its name to the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council for Research in Great Britain and the Commonwealth in 1964, which was shortened to the Arthritis Research Campaign in 1998, before becoming Arthritis Research UK in 2010 as part of a drive to raise the profile of both arthritis research and the organisation itself. This also reduced the potential for confusion with a plethora of other charitable groups using the ARC initials. The Canadian Arthritis Society, Australian Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation and New Zealand Rheumatism Association were affiliated organisations. Dr Stewart Adams, discoverer of Ibuprofen, opened the Arthritis Research UK Pain Centre, which investigates the mechanisms that lead to chronic pain in order to improve treatment, at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

in 2010.Pain Centre Versus Arthritis
University of Nottingham (retrieved 24 May 2024)

External links

Official website

References

{{authority control Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom Arthritis organizations 1936 establishments in the United Kingdom Biomedical research foundations Chesterfield, Derbyshire Health charities in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Derbyshire Research in the United Kingdom Science and technology in Derbyshire Scientific organizations established in 1936

History

Arthritis Care

Arthritis Research UK

See also

External links

References