Camp Twinkletoes educates, supports and inspires children and teenagers with arthritis

Each year, Arthritis & Osteoporosis NSW is proud to host two special camps for children and teenagers with arthritis. Camp Twinkletoes is one of these camps and we visited Stanwell Tops on 20-22 February to set about educating, supporting and inspiring some very special families and their children with arthritis.

Hosted at The Tops Conference Centre in Stanwell Tops, Camp Twinkletoes was an amazing opportunity to show our support for juvenile arthritis. Along with a great chance for the children to make new friends and be around other kids going through the same struggles, Twinkletoes provided a great opportunity for parents to build their support networks with other parents in the same situation and also learn more about helping their child manage their arthritis.

There have been many families that have benefited from attending Twinkletoes over the years and we would love the chance to send many more to reap the benefits of camp in 2016, but we cannot do it without the support of the wider community.

William’s Walk is being held at Parramatta Park on Saturday 21 March 2015 and provides the key way of raising money to help Arthritis & Osteoporosis NSW support Twinkletoes and children with arthritis. William’s Walk is held in memory of William Harris who attended Twinkletoes while suffering from his juvenile arthritis. Diagnosed at the age of 2, William lived with arthritis for four years before passing away at the age of 6 in 2011, due to complications with his arthritis.

Jannine Jackson, CEO of Arthritis & Osteoporosis NSW underlines the importance of Twinkletoes and William’s Walk for children with arthritis.

“I was thrilled and delighted to attend Twinkletoes last month and experience first-hand the bravery and determination of some of our youngest members. Twinkletoes is such a great experience, you can see how much it helps both children and parents alike in managing the day-to-day struggles of juvenile arthritis.

“The impact of Twinkletoes also emphasised how important William’s Walk is. We are gearing up for a great day on Saturday 21 March at Parramatta Park and are marking the last day of Arthritis Awareness Week by celebrating the legacy of William Harris and showing our support for children across NSW with arthritis. The more people that register and join us, the more lives we can change,” said Jannine.

William’s Walk will feature a walk around Parramatta Park, as well as great family entertainment, market stalls and lots more as we show our support for the 6,000+ children in NSW with arthritis.