TRUE GUTS: Charity Nails for the NACC

I've been thinking about doing a set of nails to raise money for charity for a while, I know they may not raise a groundbreaking amount and I should probably run a marathon or something but I can't even make it up two flights of stairs, so this is my way of doing my bit.

I've decided to raise money for Crohns and Colitis UK (NACC). Inflammatory Bowel Disease (not to be confused with IBS) affects 1 in 250 people in the UK, with the two main types of being Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease. Both are chronic conditions and between 9,000 and 18,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. Most sufferers will trial endless medications, treatments and sometimes surgeries just to try and maintain a normal standard of living. With many experiencing unpleasant side effects. Symptoms can be debilitating and due to the nature of the disease, some keep quiet about their illness. There is no cure at the moment but charities like the NACC work to raise awareness and provide information about IBD, work to improve health services and provide support for sufferer's, their families and health professionals.

Click here for more information.

My boyfriend, Robbie, was diagnosed with Crohn's disease almost 8 years ago (long before I met him) and has had an ongoing battle with the illness since then. He's had some horrible times but through all the hospital visits/operations, periods of sickness and endless medications he's always stayed positive, which is really inspiring on days when most people would just give up.

Last year, Robbie raised money for the NACC by getting his thigh tattooed with a cartoon of his friend and fellow "crohnsie", Shaun, high-fiving the Queen. Shaun (an amazing photographer) had been chosen to take the first official photo of the Queen to go on display at the Scottish Parliament. Shaun Bailey (different guy) at Blue Blood in Manchester tattooed him for charity on the same day as the unveiling of the portrait and loads of people donated money.

Later in the year, our friends over at Abandon Ship Apparel, brought out a t-shirt to raise money for the NACC too. They used the phrase TRUE GUTS, which is the name of a really insightful Documentary made by Josh Golder (True Guts: Struggle and Triumph over Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) to raise awareness about IBD. The t-shirts were really successful and Richard even got TRUE GUTS tattooed on his fingers! You can read a lovely article about it all here:

So in-keeping with the tattoo theme, I decided to make a simple set of cute, wearable nails on baby pink with TRUE GUTS written on them in a traditional font. The thumbs have a subtle, silver glitter gradient on them and if the sets are well received then I'd love to do a whole colour range! I will be selling them on my online shop for £10 (+£2 p&p) and pledge to donate the whole £10 from each set sold - I'll keep you updated on my progress.

If you want to find out more about the NACC then please go to:

www.nacc.org.uk

Watch the trailer for True Guts Documentary here.