<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Welcome to my fundraising page and thanks for visiting.&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>First target reached within a week<br></strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">As a result of the astounding generosity of my friends and family I have hit my initial fundrasing target less than six days after launching this page. However please don't be put off giving your support because money raised beyond the target will all go towards the work Raleigh International does in areas of need around the world.&nbsp; The more we can raise, the better they can carry out their worthwhile role.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">I am very excited about the opportunity that has come up at short notice for me to do some environmental and community work in India with Raleigh International as a volunteer project manager. I will be in the subcontinent for 13 weeks from January to April next year with a group of young volunteers, all giving our time to help out local communities.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">We will be going into remote villages on an eco-sanitation project, building toilets and teaching people the importance of hand-washing. More people in India have mobile phones than have access to a toilet (U.N. report) and it&rsquo;s especially tough for girls and woman who can&rsquo;t go to school if there are no loos there and put themselves in danger of snakes and other animals when they go in the bushes.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;I will be working with youth volunteers to build eco toilets and washing facilities and going into schools to teach good hygiene practice. The toilet waste is later carefully fermented and used as fertiliser to improve crop growth.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;We will also be going to the beaches near Goa on a turtle conservation project, collecting eggs and setting up a hatchery and patrolling the beaches at night to stop poachers.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;I am spending about &pound;1,000 of my own money to get there and back and I am raising a further &pound;1,950 which goes directly to Raleigh for the costs of my time in India. Because I am &ldquo;between jobs&rdquo; at the moment, this opportunity has come up rather suddenly so I need to raise the funds quickly. If you can help me with this some disadvantaged people in India will benefit. I will also be exceedingly grateful to you for your support in my effort to do something useful and rewarding.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Find out more about the brilliant work Raleigh International does by pasting this link into you browser: http://www.raleighinternational.org&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>