I enjoy doing slightly crazy things, and I enjoy it even more when some good comes out of it. In March, I took part in a charity 'Jailbreak' where we had 36 hours to get as far away from the university as we could without spending any of our own money. We got to Berlin (and ended up winning!) in just 24 hours without spending any money, raising just under £300 in the process.

I've been thinking of doing this for a while but was trying to think of a charity to support. When I heard that Paul Collins -- my biology teacher from secondary school -- had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, it seemed like a pretty cool cause to support. When I heard that he was spending his time fundraising for Cancer Research UK, that inspired me to actually go ahead do this.

So, here's the deal: if I raise £200, I'll sign a deed poll legally changing my name to Shambolic Intergalactic Scrumdiddlyumptious Effervescent Penumbrous Whimsical Super-Hydrogenous Crime-Fighting Piacular Nugatory Contumelious Capacious Vapid Ninja-Penguin. I'll keep this as my name for a minimum of three months before changing it back.

For every additional £150 I raise, I'll leave that as my name for an additional three months, up to a maximum of 12 months (because I don't want that name to appear on my graduation certificate!) I'm hoping to beat the £300 from Jailbreak.

I will pay for any costs associated with changing this name, and all legal records will be changed as is required by law. This includes (but is not limited to) my bank account, driver's license, passport and university records. It's the name I'd register with any employer I might work for in this period of time, and it also means that I would use the name "Shambolic Ninja-Penguin" (or Sham for short) on a day-to-day basis.

You can find Paul's JustGiving page here:

http://www.justgiving.com/PaulCollins18010