What I’m doing

Although I'm already renowned for my general physical prowess, athleticism and good looks I thought it was about time to put two out of three to the test. I've been cajoled into taking on "The Grim" which as it's name suggests, is not overly pleasant.

The Grim Challenge (www.grimchallenge.co.uk) basically involves an 8 mile cross country run, through an army vehicle test track, running through waist high bogs, up man made hills, net-crawls and an unexplainable amount of mud, sludge and pain.....all on a cold, wet Saturday in December.....and for some unexplained reason there is an awful lot of you who don't think that I, at a slender 17 stone, can do it.

This challenge not only represents the furthest I've ever run (by roughly about 7.9 miles) - but as the majority of it involves running through freezing cold water, mud and various other assault course challenges along the way, it’s much more than a fitness test, and I'm really not looking forward to it....that said It's astonishing what you think you can achieve after a few beers.

So I'm calling on you as my generous friends and colleagues to help me raise money for a great cause and hopefully enjoy a few laughs at my expense - you're all welcome to come down to Aldershot on December 4th to cheer me on, there will defiantly be big celebration plans afterwards and I’ll keep you updated on how the training's going throughout.

 

Where your donation's going

Surrey Clubs for Young People is a fantastic charity, but I wanted to particularly focus these fundraising efforts on Mid Surrey Young Carers, who's work revolves around caring for young children who themselves act as carers for their severly disabled or very ill parents.

As you can imagine the responsibilities placed on these young children are vast and this project provides crucial support and activities to allow these kids to escape the constant pressures of being full time carers to their parents and get, in the words of one, "a chance to be normal for a while". Whether it’s a listening voice, organising a club they can attend each week to make new friends or a trip to a local attraction, Mid Surrey Young Carers provides the support, infrastructure and crucially the people, to make a real difference to these young people’s lives.

This is a very small charity, and funds are extremely tight. I have  experienced this first hand as my lovely sister Sarah, who many of you will know, works extremely hard to help run the Mid Surrey Young Carers project and takes a huge amount of pride in her work.

You can rest assured that each and every donation, literally each pound can be traced back to the kids, be it £1 for an ice cream by the seaside, or £100 to help keep the clubs they love to attend open and there are not many charities that can put claim to that.

The work that Sarah and her colleagues do at Mid Surrey Young Carers is invaluable to these young people, they all love them to bits, so give generously in the knowledge that you're doing a very good thing for a group of very special kids.

http://www.scyp.co.uk/index.cfm?objectid=263E7393-3005-B033-047C50D4F274E550

Dig deep & thank you.