Thanks for visiting. 

A couple of years ago I watched an extremely moving documentary film called Mugabe and the White African, which (being a White African myself) left me inspired to do what I could to support the lives of those millions of people who have had their lives devastated by the disastrous mis-management of the Zimbabwean economy in the last 15 years.

Mike Campbell (one of the subjects of the film) died a couple of years after the film was made as a result of the injuries he sustained because he took a stand against the injustice of Mugabe's policies.

In 2011 I played a tiny part in helping Ben Freeth (Mike's son-in-law) set up the Mike Campbell Foundation  to support the on-going work that Ben is doing. Its work is broadly across three areas: seeking justice for human rights abuses committed against farmers and workers; campaigning for rule of law in Zimbabwe, particularly security of property ownership which is the foundation of a functioning economy; and livelihood support (in the form of training) for the farm workers who have been left destitute. The mission statement is as follows:

The Mike Campbell Foundation seeks justice for victims of torture and abuse in Zimbabwe; Works towards the restoration of the rule of law where it has been demolished; Assists those forced to live in extreme poverty with survival skills.

This year, the foundation managed to get a few places on the London Marathon and I was given the dubious honour of being chosen as one of their runners - though I unfortunately only got this news 11 weeks before the actual date of the marathon! So I've been training hard (despite 3 weeks off due to sickness and injury!) and am hoping to get round the course alive.

I would enormously appreciate if you could sponsor my run (/hobble) extremely generously - I have set a very low target (£2,500) on my justgiving page - but please don't see that as an upper limit - more of a bare minimum! I would love to reach £20,000!