If you have logged onto this page I can only hope that it is to sponsor my attempt at the Barrathon - the most westerly half marathon in the British Isles, www.barrathon.org.uk. I have never been to the Outer Hebrides but I suspect that the course will be arduous, if not tortuous given the hills and the most probable gale force wind and driving rain - not unusual for summer up there or so I am told! Quite clearly this is not a summer holiday so why I am heading to this island of Barra........

I have set myself this challenge primarily to raise money for Kisima, a boarding school located in Kenya's Central District which aims not only to educate but to bring children together from the Northern Frontier District (NFD), one of the most remote and neglected areas of the world. With no real infrastructure, no effective industry or commerce, it is beset with tribal conflict and survives on UN and Red Cross relief aid. The drought ridden NFD has been described as 'the one half of  about which the other half knows nothing and seems to care even less'.

Yet the underresourced, government sponsored, primary school network does produce some outstanding students whose natural intelligence overcomes the lack of resources and the hostile environment of the NFD. Kisima (which means spring in Swahili) has been created by two Kenyan's to provide a free secondary education for these bright children so full of potential without the potential to fulfil it.

Kisima caters for 160 students, 50% boys and 50% girls from different tribes and religions. Its aim is not only to provide a good education but to arm them with a greater understanding and empathy for each others' cultures by mixing the children from the different warring NFD tribes. These children will be the future leaders of their communities and it is hoped that through education they will feel empowered to make lasting and sustainable changes to end decades of strife, war and dependency.

Now in its sixth year the school has released its second batch of A level equivalent students. For such a new school their success has been impressive. Out of 3,000 schools in , they were ranked 66th overall. That is a 2.2 percentile ranking and many of the students have secured places in Universities.

A good friend of mine has close ties with the school and the small charity -  The Educational Frontier Trust (TEFT) - that funds Kisima. Being a small venture I know that the money I raise will go directly to the school and will not be wasted or diverted. Without the money raised by TEFT it would be impossible for Kisima to survive. So please make a small donation.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

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.