CORONATION Street's Sue Nicholls (Audrey Roberts), will be in town next week joining Bolton's new 'first lady' Glynis Birch in a campaign to highlight the crippling disease, Lupus.

The Street star will be putting her weight behind the opening of a new charity shop in Great Moor Street, Bolton to help arthritis and rheumatism sufferers. Bolton Mayor Cllr Peter Birch will be tackling issues close to home at the official opening ceremony on Wednesday June 11.

For not only is the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council Cllr Birch's adopted charity, but his wife has suffered from the rare rheumatic disease, Lupus for the last 20 years.

The national association, which celebrated its Diamond Jubilee last year, raises more than £50,000 into research into the diseases each year.

And Mrs Birch will be using her "term in office" to promote the misunderstood illness, Lupus, and the work of the ARC.

The new charity shop will be opened by Sue Nicholls, right, who is a dedicated supporter of the ARC which has 29 shops throughout Britain.

According to the ARC, Lupus is a disease that mainly effects women of child-bearing years and symptoms include joint and muscle pain, heart problems, kidney disease and frequent miscarriage.

Mrs Birch's case is typical because her condition was not diagnosed for some time.

Mrs Birch said:"When I was 18, I was diagnosed as having rheumatoid arthritis and it wasn't until I was 21 that doctors did some blood tests and found that I had Lupus."

Mrs Birch, who also developed osteopeorosis due to the use of steroids, was advised not to have children when she married at 25 because of the likelihood of miscarriage and was sterilised.

Now, Mrs Birch, aged 41, is hoping her official role as Mayoress will be able to promote the illness.

She says her mayoral appointments have had to be specially arranged to make sure that she gets plenty of rest but she said:"The medication does control it, although obviously you do get flare ups.

"But i don't let it control me, Icontrol Lupus. I don't let it take me over, I shrug it off.

"There is still a lot of ignorance around Lupus - people don't understand what it is - and anything that makes more people aware of it is a good thing."

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