Claire Ward

Claire was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2020. The journey to finding medication that worked was exhausting and Claire found the mental adjustment to her new health condition particularly hard. In many ways it felt like she was grieving her old self.

Claire has no family history of RA and was diagnosed at a relatively young age. This, coupled with the pandemic, made the first few years following her diagnosis feel very lonely. Discovering the information and community of NRAS allowed Claire to connect to others with similar lived experiences and adjust to her condition. Now Claire feels able to advocate for herself to her medical team, is confident in managing her symptoms and knows that support is always available.

Professionally, Claire has over ten years of experience in the financial services sector, specialising in operational risk and resilience. Her experience spans the public and private sector, including writing policy at the regulator. By becoming a trustee at NRAS, Claire hopes to use her experience to continue NRAS’ great work and make sure others living with rheumatoid arthritis continue to be at the very centre of the charity.

Claire lives in South West London with her partner and their very friendly cat.