The group meets about every three months, often at a hotel or pub that gives it a private room. Below is what happened at its meetings and the fundraising done for Lupus UK around them, newest first.
Nine members came to the usual meeting at Gisborough Hall Hotel and were made to feel welcome in lovely surroundings. Talk turned to how hard it can be to get medical appointments, and to the sense, from reading Lupus UK's news, that the north east is thinly represented in the charity's regional structure. Gentle exercise such as tai chi was mentioned as something that may help with balance. The next meeting was set for November.
Another good turnout, with thanks to the landlady for her hospitality. A member's father has written two crime thrillers, Red Week and Black Hole, with all proceeds going to Lupus UK, and another member brought handmade goods to sell for the charity. Recent research news was shared. A worry raised was the burden of knowing what can safely be taken with what: several members had been told, months after starting a drug, that they should not have been taking it with others. The lesson was always to check and to ask when in doubt.
A member's aunt marked her eightieth birthday in March by asking for donations to Lupus UK instead of presents. Family and friends gave £312.
A tractor run organised by the club in County Durham raised £2,726 for Lupus UK. It set off from Ushaw College and took in Knitsley Hall, Satley and Butsfield, with off-road sections lent by local farmers and landowners. Seventy-five entrants stopped for lunch at Hall Hill Farm before returning to a hog roast, a raffle and a tombola. The club raises money for local charities each year and chose Lupus UK this time because a relative of one of its members lives with lupus.
Nine members, a new member and three supporting family members met in the drawing room on a sunny but windy day. A newcomer told how quickly she had gone from an active life to a diagnosis after a spell in hospital, and others offered information and support from their own experience. Members shared what they knew about current drugs, side effects and advice from specialist staff. A WhatsApp group and a visiting speaker were both suggested for later. A member goes on making and selling good-quality bags for Lupus UK.
The Rotary Club of Blaydon, Ryton and Whickham staged a Christmas concert with the Grainger Singers at St Mary the Virgin Parish Church in Whickham, in aid of Lupus UK and Whickham Community Centre. The club gave each charity £500 and Lloyds Bank, which was at the concert, announced it would match the gift, so Lupus UK received £1,000. A group representative accepted the cheque and explained to the audience what lupus is.
A member sold bags, yoga cushions and other handmade items for the charity and made £120, with no sign of stopping.
Nine members, a newcomer and four partners and friends met in a private room. A supporter whose sister-in-law has lupus had run the Great North Run in September and raised £288 online, and then arrived with a cheque for a further £950. It was also announced that Lupus UK would share in a Rotary carol concert. The coordinator spoke of stepping back from the role as her working hours grew, and members offered to share the work, including the website and social media.
Seven members and two partners met in the function room at Gisborough Hall, set among the North York Moors, over tea, coffee and home-made shortbread. The coordinator reported sending almost £1,300 to Lupus UK after the Fun Day at the Bay Horse, and the Wooler Walkers had again raised a good amount.
On a very hot Sunday 44 walkers raised £2,727 for Lupus UK, finishing with a fun-filled night at The Angel Inn.
Staff at The Bay Horse on Front Street in Whickham held a Fun Day for Lupus UK. The group ran a cake stall and sold homemade bags, gifts and jewellery, and handed out information on lupus with flags, badges and wristbands. There was hook a duck, candy floss and a set of stocks for brave volunteers. The day raised £1,391.78, including a £100 donation made in memory of a wife who died of lupus.
Thirteen members and family supporters filled a function room at The Bay Horse and introduced themselves in turn, describing how lupus and related conditions affect them. They cover a good part of the medical dictionary, and it is striking how differently each person is affected.
A fundraising morning at Markfield Methodist Chapel in Leicestershire, arranged by the parents of a supporter with help from friends, raised £276.50 through cakes, plants and a raffle.
Bit by bit since before Christmas, a member raised £100 by selling handmade bags, cushions and Christmas decorations.
Representatives of the Rotary Club of Blaydon, Ryton and Whickham presented the group with a cheque for £250 for Lupus UK at The Bay Horse in Whickham. The landlady said the group would be welcome to meet there for its bi-monthly get-togethers, which it hoped would become a popular central venue.
A supporter whose sister-in-law has lupus took on the Great North Run in September for Lupus UK.
Belmont Ladies Choir held its Christmas concert with Pittington Brass at St Cuthbert's Church on North Road, Durham, and gave its donation to the lupus charity in memory of a much-loved former secretary who had lived with lupus for many years. The audience sang with the choir and mince pies went down well at the interval.
Three grandchildren ran an extra mile and raised £90 for the coffee morning their grandmother held at St Paul's Church in Winlaton, which had itself raised £100 for Lupus UK.
With the Ramside Hotel no longer welcoming the group, the autumn meeting moved to St Margaret's Church Hall in Brookfield, Middlesbrough. Six members came to a quiet, enjoyable gathering with unlimited tea and coffee. Topics included the benefits of counselling, changing roles at work to stay in employment, and managing fatigue after outings. Those present contributed to the cost of the room, and members agreed to keep looking for places to meet, possibly varying them so that meetings could be nearer home. Gisborough Hall had offered to host, though perhaps not in February in case of bad weather.
The coordinator was invited to The Bay Horse in Whickham to speak to the club about lupus and was warmly welcomed. Some members knew of the disease through a fellow member's wife, who had lived with it for twenty-six years.
A supporter ran the Great North Run to raise money for Lupus UK and finished in an excellent time.
Forty-seven walkers covered ten miles across the hills on the annual outing for Lupus UK, ending with supper and live music at The Angel Inn.
A member raised £160 for Lupus UK from a couple of car boot sales and the sale of more handmade bags.
A coffee morning at Markfield Methodist Church in Leicestershire, with toasted teacakes, biscuits and free refills, was organised by a supporter's parents, and the proceeds went to Lupus UK.
The coordinator visited the Bede Building at Sunderland College to talk to media students about lupus as part of a project called The People's Pages. Students said they had learnt what lupus is, that it needs research, that a person can keep working in a job they love, and how frustrating it can be when others know little about it. A fundraising event was planned for the college's film week.
Two runners completed the New York Marathon in November and then held quiz nights and raffles, raising £15,350 for Lupus UK and Cancer Research through an online giving page.
In November, members of the Stockton on Tees Masonic Hall gave a cheque for £200 to Lupus UK, collected by a member of the group from the lodge master.
A coffee morning for Lupus Awareness Month in October at St Margaret's Church hall, Brookfield, Middlesbrough, raised £500. Stalls sold books, CDs, cakes and homemade bags, there was a tombola and a raffle, and a table carried information on lupus.
In October the coordinator received a cheque for Lupus UK from the Rotary Club of Newcastle upon Tyne West at Westerhope Golf Club and spoke about what being a chosen charity means, both for fundraising and for awareness of the disease in the community.