Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
I am writing in the hope of persuading you to sponsor me on yet another bicycle trip this summer.
This time, however, rather than cycling from Scotland to Cornwall - a mere 1000 miles, where the greatest danger was the man in the white van and the odd sheep - I have chosen instead to join three others with the aim of going from the west coast of Namibia, through Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east coast of Mozambique. We will cover between 2000 and 2500 miles on extremely rough roads over 70 days, camping during the entire trip. This time, instead of packs of grey squirrels hunting us down, there will be much more fearsome creatures lurking in the bushes. So I thought it wise to cycle for a charity, so that if I die, I will die for a cause.
The charity I have chosen is the MicroLoan foundation, which was recommended by Michael Naylor, who spends much of his time in Africa. The MicroLoan foundation offers loans and training to the poorest women in Africa. 99% of these women go on to set up their own business, thereby establishing a means of caring for their families. A similar percentage repay the loans, which the charity recycles to new beneficiaries. As it states on its website, the MicroLoan foundation takes a totally new approach towards charity: ‘Giving a hand up, not a hand out to the women in Africa.’
As the well-known Chinese proverb goes: ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - We raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Thank you so much to those of you who choose to donate, its going towards a great cause and will keep me going when the going gets tough.
Yours sincerely
Edmund Magnus
