Arthritis Care voted Health Charity of the Year 2008 by members of the Medical Journalists’ Association

Arthritis Care was named Health Charity of the Year 2008 at the Medical Journalists' Association awards ceremony held at the Royal Society of Medicine.

The award highlights the fact that Arthritis Care’s work is highly valued by medical journalists from a range of media and publications, including national and local press, as well as lifestyle and health professional magazines.

Members of the Medical Journalists' Association voted for Arthritis Care to be included on a list of five nominees and a second vote declared the organisation as the winner. Arthritis Care saw off stiff competition to scoop the award. Fellow short-listers were the British Heart Foundation, Mencap, the Royal National Institute for Blind People, and the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Rachel Haynes, Arthritis Care’s director of public affairs, who collected the award at the ceremony said: ‘Arthritis Care aims to be the first point of call and "one-stop-shop" for anyone wanting to learn about arthritis in any of its 200 forms.

'This award is a vote of confidence in the information we provide the media and public, and it is fantastic that it comes from the big hitters of the MJA. They are the respected, authoritative communicators who influence health and public policy, so if we are helping them, then we’re doing our own job of helping people with arthritis to get their voices heard.’