Thanks for getting this far! You're probably dying to donate so I won’t keep you too long.

On Halloween I'll be cycling in TRANSYLVANIA, Romania through 40km of freezing hills between 3 creepy castles, garlanded in garlic, dripping with crucifi (is that the plural?) and hoping that the volunteer ambulance escort isn't too far behind with canisters of pressurised sunshine.

What’s it in aid of?

Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans (F.R.O.D.O) http://www.frodokids.org. It's a charity founded 3 years ago and growing fast to deal with the desperate situation of abandoned, disabled children in Eastern. 

Take a look at the 3 minute video on this page to see in a nutshell what they do.

So please give what you can. It's a big target to reach but I'm paying the costs myself so you know you're not dishing out for me to have a holiday.

The Feet for F.R.O.D.O. initiative, rather than trying to supply correct sized shoes for hobbits is about using our feet to help make children walk. They're hoping to raise £25,000 with this event to send over some of the world's top surgeons volunteering their time to make lives worth living. 

The Cause:

This ITV News report explains the cause pretty well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWKQNMZa--Y

In many parts of the world a child with an obvious disability or disfigurement is a disgrace to its family and likely to be abandoned. Anybody you’ve ever met born with blindness, deafness, downs syndrome, a cleft palate, epilepsy, or even feet turned a little too far inwards would probably not have crossed your path were this Romania.

They could well have grown up in an institution receiving less enrichment and care than offered by a typical British prison.

In an environment of near zero stimulation and love, small but healthy minds simply fail to develop and mostly healthy bodies become distorted by years spent just rocking or bashing their head against a wall for comfort.
These become destroyed people.

 

If that’s got you depressed have another look at that 3min video again to see...

What F.R.O.D.O actually do about it:

http://www.frodokids.org/frodokids/one-child-at-a-time

 

There’s lots more to read on their website about what they do. I find the story of Dimitri on this page particularly eye-watering: http://www.frodokids.org/about/why-we-do-it