Dear Friends,

Firstly, thank you. For if you are reading this - through intrigue or otherwise - you have  already taken your first step in the direction I hoped you would take.  

Please treat what follows as an invitation to involve yourself in something which - much like the first moon landing - shall be a somewhat significant ‘first’, but rather disappointingly unlike the first moon landing this does not involve a team of astronauts.

‘Where Eagles Dare’, is a rather unnervingly entitled triathlon taking place on Anglesey, Wales on the 8th of June.  

At 9am on the morning in question, I shall be stood on the beach at Rhoscolyn struggling into my ill fitting wetsuit in anticipation of an 800 metre swim off the Welsh shore. Following this, I shall jump onto ‘White Lightening’ (my bike’s nickname - not a cheap can of cider favored by the UK’s homeless) for a 32 mile ride across the meandering hills which take us from Anglesey to Llanberis. Here, I shall slip on my running shoes to begin the final leg: a 9 mile “run” to the top of Mount Snowdon, before I roll down the other side in an exhausted, but hopefully elated heap. 

                                          Yes, me. Yes, a triathlon.

Few things I have ever embarked upon have proved quite so alien to my being. Performing an ill-timed ‘Black Eyed Peas’  music video aged 15 may have come close (peer pressure); living alone in a Muslim city in central India perhaps came closer (career pressure), but I digress...

In this instance, being neither an eagle nor particularly daring it may seem an odd choice. However, every time a put on my trainers, mount my bike, or slip into my swimsuit, at the forefront of my mind is an exceptional charity called Hope and Home for Children. 

As some of you may be aware I travelled to Bucharest last year with my Mum and was able to experience firsthand the dreadful situation so many children and families are in. The work which HHC are doing is quite outstanding: keeping families together and giving abandoned children not only a childhood, but also the hope of a better future.

Any support which you can give would mean a huge amount to me and, more importantly, to the children who don’t yet understand the meaning of ‘home’ or the immeasurable value of it for adults fortunate enough to have one.

I will endeavor to keep you all updated on my progress & I promise to be back to my normal badly behaved self in record time post-event!

Please do share this with who ever you wish- the more the merrier..

& thanks again to you all- you have made it through the worst!

Love & Smiles 

Fabes xxx