UPDATE :

On May 31st this year I will be taking part in Britain’s most popular long distance cycle ride, The Coast 2 Coast. My challenge will be to cycle 140 miles through the Lake District and The Pennines, starting at Whitehaven and finishing at Sunderland.

The route takes me through some rugged and dramatic scenery, with tough climbs.(13,000ft) It’s going to be hard, but with your support I’m really confident that I’ll complete it.

But why am I putting myself through this? Well, it’s all to provide funds for Asaph’s Foundation. Asaph's Foundation is aiming to raise funds to build an orphanage in Uganda.

My first target is to raise enough to build the foundations. We’re hoping to build on those foundations over time, until the orphanage is complete. I will personally be seeing this project through to completion, both from the UK and during my visits to Uganda.

Asaph’s Foundation

One of the harshest effects of the global AIDS epidemic is the number of orphans it has created, and continues to create. By the end of 2007, it was estimated that more than 15 million children had lost one or both their parents as a result of AIDS, a significant increase on the estimated 8 million in 2001.

Some AIDS orphans are adopted by grandparents or other extended family members but many are left without any support. Child headed households are common in areas, with older children fending for their sibling and themselves. These children don't have parents as they have lost their lives to HIV. There are no support groups, no one to call and get an emergency loan or a shelter over their heads (even if they had access to a phone box and money). They don't even have fresh drinking water - something we take for granted here in the UK.

Murray Park School in Mickleover is our link school. They will be supporting this great project. All the pupils and different departments will be helping to raise funds. Among the fundraising events there’ll be a non-uniform day, school discos, bric-a-brac sale, pamper evenings for parents and much, much, more. I thank in advance Sally Hadden, Director of Learning and the young people of the School Council who have been so willing and supportive to this cause.

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Tina Sarker

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