The Bath Institute for Rheumatic Diseases (BIRD) is a local charity working to improve treatment for patients with rheumatic diseases through:
– funding medical research
– providing education for doctors and healthcare professionals
– organising engagement opportunities for patients in research and learning about new medicines and treatment.
Bath has always been at the forefront of bone and joint disease research, education and patient care, as part of its history as a city with thermal waters since at least Roman times, and with one of the first national specialist hospitals in the country founded in 1738.
By running and raising money for BIRD you are helping this work to continue and joining our many previous donors and legators in helping us to help patients.
If you chose to run for us as a champion, pledging to raise at least £200 in sponsorship towards our research budgets (more would be gratefully accepted!) we will:
– pay for your entry fees
– organise a team briefing event for our runners in late Autumn, including an update from a physio
– set up a photoshoot
– give you a running vest
– thank you with a post event reception, including massage and refreshments
– inscribe your name on our Benefactors Board if you raise over £1k!
BIRD BathHalf charity entry forms are available by contacting Kate on [email protected]
Rheumatology is the study and treatment of arthritis, including a number of autoimmune diseases, pain disorders affecting bones, joints, soft tissue and tendons. People of any age can be affected, including children, and numbers are rising with the increasing number of older people in the population. In the long term, our work helps almost everyone because only one person in fifty will escape some form of rheumatic complaint in their lives.
If you’re affiliated with certain rheumatic diseases, you might wish to run in their special colours:
Arthritis and Osteoarthritis – dark blue
Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain – purple
Osteoporosis – silver/grey
Sjogrens Syndrome, Autoimmune Diseases – light purple/mauve
Scleroderma – teal green
Psoriatic Arthritis – dark blue, orange and light purple
Ankylosing Spondylitis – blue
Rheumatoid arthritis – blue & purple
Invisible Illness – white
