Celebrating our Fundraisers26 July 2018JIA is an autoimmune disease which causes inflammation in the joints, although it can also affect the eyes and other organs. There are approximately 12,000 children in the UK with JIA, which represents 1 in every 1,000 children under the age of 16. This equates to approximately 15-20 children in each UK parliamentary constituency. There are approximately 1,200 new cases of JIA diagnosed each year in the UK. The children and families all met prior to the event for a photo in Parliament Square Families from across the UK came to Westminster for a reception, with speakers including the Shadow Minister for Children and Families, Emma Lewell-Buck MP and Professor Lucy Wedderburn, Consultant at Great Ormond Street Hospital. The Shadow Minister for Children and Families giving a talk about how policy changes help to support young people with JIA and their families A number of MPs came to visit the children with JIA and their families. Tan Dhsi MP meets his constituents from Slough Martin Vickers MP meets his constituents from Slough Many MPs were surprised to hear that children could get ‘arthritis.’ Paul Farrelly MP meets his constituents from Newcastle-Under-Lyme Stephen McPartland MP meets his constituents from Stevenage It was incredibly pleasing that so many of the MPs that visited pledged support their constituents with JIA. (L) Colin Clark MP meets his constituents from Gordon, Aberdeenshire | (R) Wera Hobhouse MP meets her constituents from Bath Fiona Bruce MP meets her constituents from Congleton Many of the families who attended had been raising funds and awareness through the ‘Wear Purple for JIA initiative.’ Heidi wearing purple for ‘Wear Purple for JIA’ The ‘Wear Purple for JIA’ initiative was started by Lynette whose daughter, Farah has JIA. Farah receiving her award from Ailsa Bosworth MBE, Chief Executive of NRAS High-profile MPs, such as Ed Miliband, also got involved raising awareness by wearing purple. Read tweet here. James, who has done a fantastic video about living with JIA, met this MP in Parliament. Watch the video here. James meeting his MP, Damien Moore Feedback from the event has been great, with many of the families enjoying their day in London and their time in Parliament. Robert Courts MP meets his constituents from Oxfordshire Thank you so much to all of our amazing fundraisers!