As some of you may have recently heard, due to the hugely ambitious nature of the project Fran and I have had to put Charity China on the back burner for now. The good news, however, is that all planned charity events will continue to take place, more will be organized and all money raised so far will be going exactly where it should be going. Because this is the year for charity and that means making money whether we're here in the UK or anywhere else. And so, in the spirit of continuity, I have compiled a small calendar of confirmed events in which either myself, Fran or both of us are participating and will add more as and when these occur (this is included at the bottom of this post).So why has China been postponed? Put simply, finance. Despite our willingness to pay all transport costs ourselves and work our fingers to the bone to get as much money to the charity as possible we just wouldn't be able to scrape together the thousands needed to knacker ourselves even more (albeit in a different part of the world). In fact, if you do the maths, costs included ,we need almost £3000 each and we needed to raise this within 7 months. That, if my calculator isn't lying, is slightly over £107 EACH, PER WEEK until the day we travel. Now, I'm by no means defeatist, but come on, unless we get some pretty rich sponsors (and it turns out these people are rich for a reason...they're tight fisted) we don't really stand much of a chance. And so the trip has been postponed.
But what of my efforts to better myself and run 10km for Charity this May? Well, in an effort to hop, skip and jump my way to the big event I've thrown in several smaller ones throughout the next few months.
Firstly, I'm now participating in the Sports Relief Mile in Manchester. It's actually three miles, but as it's only half of the Great Manchester Run it's probably going to be more to my liking and, more importantly, I'm less likely to collapse in a panting heap in the middle of the road. The immediacy of the event (March 16th) also gives me the motivation to stop being lazy and get to the gym. I'm raising money for Sports Relief with this one which goes to people living incredibly hard lives both here in the UK and abroad. I've already started the ball rolling by buying a pair of fundraising socks but you can sponsor me safely and securely through the SPORTS RELIEF WEBSITE by clicking here. Rest assured none of this money passes through my hands and goes directly to Sport Relief with your name on it so you can feel good doing it!
Before this, however, Fran and I are doing a sponsored 16 mile walk between Edale via 'The Dark Peak' and Crowden (the designated 'Middle of Nowhere') for Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital. However, we are not alone! Team mates will be added as and when all are confirmed (if you want to join the team, email me!) and again you can sponsor us via Justgiving, where (again) no money will pass through our hands but will be sent directly to the hospital with your name written all over it! This takes place on March 8th.
Lastly, for those of you good people just itching to sponsor us but waiting for the right cause we are now accepting paypal donations through the button at the top right of this page which (we are assured) will not be taxed and which we will personally forward to the charity of your choice which you can state in the 'notes' box when making the donation. So, if you don't particularly support Scope, Sports Relief or Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital, make a donation and tell us where you want it to go.
Events Calendar to date:
Pennine Way Trek (16 miles) 08/03/08
Sport Relief Manchester Mile (3 miles) 16/03/08
Bupa Great Manchester Run (6 miles) 18/05/08
