Usually I run the Great North Run half-marathon (13.1 miles) each year in aid of the Jubilee Debt Campaign (JDC) as part of the Newcastle University team. This year I can’t run as I have an injured knee (ruptured ACL and ‘complex tear to the meniscus’), however whilst waiting (and waiting!) for my knee surgery, I’m being encouraged to cycle. So, I thought I’d bike the 140 miles of the C2C from Whitehaven to Tynemouth, over the hills of the Lake District and North Pennines to raise funds this year – in just 2 days.
'Drop the Debt' and the fight against HIV/AIDS are two of the most effective movements for the relief of poverty and oppression in history! They need our support as never before, given that an extra one hundred million people have been pushed back into utter destitution by the financial crisis - once again, "Those who could be blamed the least, the poorest people in the poorest countries, have suffered the most." (Cardinal Basil Hume)
Last year, my generous sponsors contributed nearly £1750 which is really important for these campaigns. This year I’m aiming to raise £1000.
According to Nick Dearden, National Director, JDC: "The North East and Newcastle University have been hugely important to Jubilee Debt Campaign and we are simply amazed to find that your team in the Great North Run has developed into one of our major sources of funding. And Diarmaid McDonald, National Coordinator, Stop AIDS Campaign says: "We at the Stop AIDS Campaign applaud the university community at Newcastle for its support for international development and congratulate the Great North Run team for its outstanding record in fundraising for debt relief and the fight against HIV/AIDS. This fight can be won, but only with determined and persistent effort, so please continue to give us your support!"
Jubilee Debt Campaign will keep half of all funds donated, but will send 40% to Oxfam and 10% to the Stop AIDS Campaign. 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 - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
For more information on the Jubilee Debt Campaign, read on:
Jubilee Debt Campaign is already benefiting some of the most impoverished countries by billions of pounds each year, despite the miniscule scale of its budget. "Let me commend the tremendous work you are doing", wrote President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia to JDC. Just compare the following:
During the 1990s, David and Liz McKelvey were doctors working in Tanzania. Observing with dismay the conditions there, they wrote: "During the four years we have worked here, we have often thought that what we are doing is like using sticking plaster. Perhaps we would be better going back to the UK and canvassing to reduce the debt of Tanzania. That might have a far bigger impact on the lives of people in Mvumi than what we are doing now".
Compare that with this, ten years later, from Dr Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary General of the UN: "My own country Tanzania would not have been able to send millions more children to school and fund health services if not for the cancellation of debts in recent years. This would not have happened if citizens and faith leaders in the UK and elsewhere had not awakened the conscience of their leaders through the Jubilee campaign."
But we still have far to go - even the poorest countries are still paying $100 million EACH DAY to the richest, most of it on debts inherited from a previous generation!
"We believe AIDS is the worst catastrophe ever to hit the world", says Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's Executive Director, However, whereas in 2002, 50,000 Africans in need of treatment for AIDS had access to it, now about 7 million are getting it, transforming their lives and their children's prospects! But millions still await treatment, and over 300,000 babies are infected at birth each year (something easily preventable). Millions of children not yet in their teens now find themselves totally responsible for younger siblings, and millions of weak and impoverished elderly people are left to care for grandchildren.
So please help us to - ‘Drop the Debt and Stop AIDS’!
