There can’t be many places, perhaps not even Ebay, where you can bid for anything from a Florida Disney holiday to a ‘repurposed’ dog collar made from a man’s tie, and raise money for an arthritis charity at the same time. Some of my favourite things so far in the auction (which opens for bidding on 25 November and closes on 30th) are this Italian handbag (only they insist on calling it a purse, because the auction’s in America, but don’t panic, they ship internationally and the shipping is included in your final bid amount), these pretty Murano glass earnings and this batch of jewellery-making books generously donated by the founder of the charity that the auction’s in aid of. God, I’m such a girlie. Don’t worry though – if you’re not a girlie there’s still plenty there for you – autographed sports prints, wine, art, heaps of stuff. And hopefully, wherever you are in the world, if you need it in time for Christmas it will just about get there!
Everything in the auction has been donated by someone affected by autoimmune arthritis in some way, and each lot has the story of why it’s there in the auction.
So what is this all in aid of? It’s IAAM, the International Autoimmune Arthritis Movement. And what’s that, I hear you cry. Well if you’ve been reading this blog for a while (or many others out there on the net) you might have an inkling, but if not then they’re a fairly new charity all about raising awareness and resource sharing specifically around autoimmune arthritis diseases.
100% of the auction proceeds go straight to the charity, so if you want to raise awareness of autoimmune arthritis AND treat yourself (or someone else) to something nice, this is the way to do it. Retail therapy without the guilt!
Pollyanna Penguin's RA Blog 
This is awesome! I had no idea this existed- thanks for posting and I’ll continue spreading the word 🙂