by Cara N | Sep 27, 2025 | Fundraising
A BIG THANK YOU to our supporters who have shopped with us through easyfundraising.
Whenever you buy anything online – from your weekly shop to your annual holiday – you can raise free donations for Fibromyalgia Friends Together.
There are over 8,000 retailers on board ready to make a donation – including eBay, Argos, John Lewis & Partners, ASOS, Booking.com and M&S – and it won’t cost you a penny extra to help us raise funds.
All you need to do is: 1. Go to here (click) and join for free.
2. Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising FIRST to find the site you want and start shopping.
3. After you’ve checked out, the retailer will make a donation to our group at no extra cost to you whatsoever! No catches or hidden charges.
We are really grateful to everyone who has supported us through easyfundraising. Thank you very much
by Mark F | Sep 27, 2025 | Grants
The Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust Fund
Grants for People Living with Fibromyalgia
At Fibromyalgia Friends Together (FFT), we understand the financial challenges that can come with managing fibromyalgia. While we do not provide grants ourselves, we are committed to helping our community find the right sources of support.
One of the key organisations offering assistance is the Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust (FNAIST). This UK charity provides grants for items and services that improve quality of life for people of all ages living with illness or disability — including those with fibromyalgia.
✨ What the Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust Awards Grants For
The Trust awards grants where no other funding is available. These can cover:
🦽 Mobility and independence aids – such as wheelchairs, walking frames or stairlifts
🛏️ Medical equipment – including orthopaedic mattresses, nebulisers, or communication aids
🏠 Daily living support – household equipment and adaptations to make life easier at home
🌿 Respite and convalescent care – short breaks to aid recovery and reduce stress (not holidays)
👩⚕️ Who Can Apply?
Applications are open to people across the UK who are living with long-term health conditions, including fibromyalgia. To apply, a request must usually come from a healthcare or social care professional such as:
- 👨⚕️ GP or nurse
- 🛠️ Occupational therapist
- 🧑🤝🧑 Social worker
- ❤️ Charity worker involved in the person’s care
Applicants should demonstrate that:
✔️ The item or service requested is medically necessary
✔️ No statutory or other charitable funding is available
✔️ The support will significantly improve quality of life
🚫 What Cannot Be Funded
To keep grants focused on essential needs, the Trust does not usually fund:
❌ Holidays or general leisure costs
❌ Items already purchased (retrospective funding)
❌ Services normally provided by the NHS or local authorities
📋 How to Apply
If you believe you could benefit from a grant:
1️⃣ Speak to a professional – ask your GP, nurse, occupational therapist, or social worker to support your application.
2️⃣ Gather information – quotes, costings, and professional evidence of need are important.
3️⃣ Submit the application – completed forms should be sent to the Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust.
You can find full details and application forms on their website here:
👉 Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust – How We Can Help
💜 Why We Share This
At Fibromyalgia Friends Together, our goal is to support and empower everyone living with fibromyalgia. By signposting trusted charities like FNAIST, we hope to make it easier for our members and community to access funding that can improve daily life, independence and wellbeing.
by Cara N | Sep 21, 2025 | Accessibility
Out and About
Fibromyalgia changes our lives dramatically. The physically active find that they are no longer able to participate in activities they love. Even those among us who are academic who love to visit museums and art galleries find they are unable to cope. A visit to the theatre can be daunting. Younger members with young families find it too hard to keep up on visits to the park.
A lot of parks throughout the country are now investing in off road mobility scooters at their sites to help anyone with a disability enjoy being able to get outdoors. I have spoke to a number of these sites and they all report the dramatic change it has bought to peoples lives. The scooters they are investing in are called Trampers.
Deborah Aydinli and I, Janet Hall went to Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire to trial 2 Trampers. We prearranged our visit, booking the trampers. We both had a marvellous time, we felt like kids again because we were given our freedom.
We thought it would be helpful to members to know of accessible sites, so we are complying details for our members. If you have had a good day out, which has been helped by the availability of a wheelchair, not excessive walking, plenty of places to sit and rest please let us know about your experience, for us to include in our accessible places.
Accessible Places
Tramper Sites
Leicestershire
Bradgate Park, Newtown Lynford LE6 0HB 1 Tramper
Booking needed contact Estate Office 01162362713
The Outwoods LE11 3YG
Booking through the Ranger 07890999176 2 Trampers
Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Council has trampers for hire at a number of sites. It is
necessary to provide 2 forms of identification such as passport, driving
licence or blue badge plus a recent utility bill.
You can pay by the hour or choose to become a registered user which is
£25 for the year. A registered user can use all the sites.
Elvaston Castle Country Park – 01629 533870
High Peak Junction Visitors Centre – 01629 533298
Middleton Top Countryside Centre – 01629 533298
Shipley Country Park – 01629 533991
Tapton Lock Visitor Centre – 01629 533020
Cresswell Crags Visitors Centre – 01909 720 378
National Trust
Calke Abbey – 01332 863822
Nottinghamshire
National Trust – Clumber Park – 01909 476592
Rufford Abbey Country Park
Ollerton NG22 9DF – 01623 821338
( The motability scooters for hire are not Trampers but are suitable for the
park)
Lincolnshire
National Trust – Belton House nr Grantham – 01476566116
by Cara N | Sep 21, 2025 | AGM, Fibromyalgia Support Meetings
We will be holding our Annual General Meeting in October
by Cara N | Jul 25, 2025 | Uncategorized
Our July Meeting in Our New Venue
Our July 2025 Fibromyalgia Social Meeting takes place on 25th July at our new venue
*Please note our meetings now take place on the Third Monday of each month.
Since our group socials have become so large we have had to find a new venue.
We are pleased to announce that our new venue is
Bright Hope House in Coalville, North West Leicestershire
Talbot Lane
Swannington
Leicestershire
LE67 8QT
Google maps link: https://www.google.com/maps?ll=52.751526,-1.379759&z=14&t=m&hl=en&gl=US&mapclient=embed&cid=11392077805485891156
We hope this will be the start of a long-term association with Bright Hope House.
We will have the meeting at 1.15pm but the room is available from 12 – 3 pm for our members.
There will be refreshments available for purchase before the meeting starts – on offer will be jacket potatoes and quiche, both served with a drink. Please may you make a donation towards refreshments.
If you are new, please keep an eye out for members with lanyards and they will welcome you to the group, especially if you are feeling nervous and unsure or any other support on the day as they will be more than happy to help 🙂
We will use this meeting to:
- Show you around the new venue
- Talk about working with Loughborough University on a revised research proposal
- Tell you about our developing plans for a revamped website, new logo and branding
- Update you all on our fundraising ideas
Please call: 07825 610925 if there are any problems finding us.
