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On the 31st of July 2011 I will set off on a 40,000 mile sailing voyage - a race around the world competing against 10 other yachts.  Of course I won't be sailing alone - I will be part of the amateur crew on the Derry~Londonderry yacht led by Mark Light - our skipper and the only professional sailor on board.  This has been a dream of mine for the past 6 or 7 years and I can't believe that I'm finally doing it.  I am not doing the journey to raise money but I thought I it would be a good opportunity to do so and therefore the charity I am supporting is Child's i Foundation.

So how did I hear about this charity I hear you ask!  Well last year a good friend of mine told me he was off to Uganda to go and make some films for a friend of his who had started her own charity.   Lucy Buck had decided to set up a charity to look after orphans in Uganda  - many new born babies are dumped in car parks, abandoned on the side of the road or left in toilets by parents who live in poverty or are trying to survive AIDS or have no family support.  Not only does Lucy's charity offer these children a safe refuge with medical help she also tries, and is successful in finding them new families.  In addition Child's i Foundation supports new mums who, due to rape, poverty or family rejection have to chose between abandoning their baby or keeping them in the knowledge they cannot feed or support their child and the child may die.  The Community drop-in Centre supports mums to learn the skills they needed to become good and happy parents and stay together as a family as well as supporting them in learning work skills so that they can support their child. This is a cause close to my heart as I am passionate about the importance of giving children the best start in life.

Ever since I found out about the charity I have followed the progress of Child's i Foundation on FaceBook and YouTube and bought a brick (!) as well as treating Mum to a gorgeous photo of George for her Mother's Day card but as soon as I knew I was going to raise money for charity this was the only charity I wanted to support.  

The 'i' in Child's i Foundation stands for 'interactive' and I want to encourage all my friends and family to be as interactive as possible with this charity.

For years my Mum and Dad have supported The Children's Society and have raised 10's of 1000's of pounds.  I wanted to chose a smaller charity where I felt the money I helped raise could make a very visible difference but at their heart the two charities are very similar - both trying to find loving families for children.... and who wouldn't want that?

I think what impresses me most about Lucy is that she has seen something in the world she is not happy about and instead of going home and forgetting about it or just whining about the injustices she has set out to make a difference to the world - if only we were all that brave.

So if you are enjoying reading my blogs, or like thinking of me in the freezing cold having to get up at 3 am to do a night watch, or just like the peace and quiet whilst I am away, please show your appreciation by making a donation to Child's i Foundation.  Every penny will count -

£9 buys a baby's medical bills for one month

£14 buys fruit and vegetables for one month

£16 buys a nursery school uniform (mum loved that for her Mother's Day present!)

£24 buys electricity for one month

£42 buys a baby's first medical

and it costs £53 for one child to attend nursery for one term.... think of everything our money could buy for the children at Malaika Babies Home - we could make a real and visible difference.

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.