**I know times are tough, they are for us all - but just a couple of pounds every here and there wouldn't hurt anyone. All the loose change in your purse, the little scraps of pennies, or if you're feeling generous a large donation, you decide how much to give, and I'll appreciate it no matter what**

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to come and visit this page and for all your generous donations! They are all appreciated sooo much by me and many others who the money will help, and this is why...

Being a teenager today isn’t exactly easy thing for a lot of people. The learning curve is steep and it’s a huge time of change and growth in a persons life. Most of us will struggle to stay focussed during this time and finding our position in the world can be difficult.

When you add being gay into the equation, it can make the already existing challenges of growing up even harder. It’s adding an extra layer of obstacles into the persons life and sometimes it can just become too much to handle, for the person themselves or their families. For this reason, the suicide and homeless rates for gay and lesbian youths are multiple times higher than they are for their fellow straight peers. And it’s why charities such as Stonewall are so important in this modern world.

Being a gay teenager myself, you can imagine how close to my heart the Stonewall charity is; it provided information for me before I came out to my friends and family, and it helped open me up to a whole new world - this is why I've opted to join a group of amazing people in canoeing down a river and climbing up a mountain to raise money. Now those of you who know me well will know that I go to regular fitness classes, so you might think this is going to be a doddle for me - but I beg to differ! The most experience I have with rowing is on a rowing machine in PE for 10 minutes or so... never mind actually in water for about 4 hours! And as for climbing a mountain, experience is little! I've been on an accidental and apprently lenghtly walk around random mountains, but that almost killed me itself! (honestly there were killer sheep....) But in all seriousness, this is going to be a whole new level of fitness for me and one heck of a challenge, so all the support you can give me will be more than appreciated.

The fundraising target is just a random amount, I have absolutely no idea how much or how little we will raise, but every little helps - and every single donation given, no matter how big or small, will be appreciated sooo much by me and many others who the money will help, and that ^^^^^^^^ is why. Thank you.

For more information on the Stonewall charity, please visit their website at: http://stonewall.org.uk