Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Most of you know that I've spent a lot of time over the last few years coaching cricket with youngsters in Sussex. Well this autumn I'm doing something similar - but rather different! I'm going to Rwanda for two weeks as part of a small team to coach young cricketers, coach coaches, and promote the game of cricket. Rwanda was devastated by the 1994 genocide and there is still much re-building to be done.

Cricket without Boundaries is a UK-based charity dedicated to helping, educating and developing local communities throughout the world through the medium of cricket. It began its work in 2005 and has worked in 8 African countries, coaching over 3000 children and helping 200 coaches gain the basic ICC coaching qualification. We use the sport to help develop personal skills - teamwork, self-confidence, leadership - and enable personal empowerment.

But there is also an explicit parallel agenda: using cricket as a tool in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Training sessions involve discussion about the disease - explicit details about prevention and treatment. But we also use metaphors from the game - fairness, protection, respect, equality, mental focus and teamwork - to help individuals build a sense of self-worth and the confidence to adopt values and behaviours that challenge accepted norms in their community.

We will visit schools and orphanages, train teachers as coaches, organise tournaments, coach adults, and donate equipment. We will aim to leave many, many participants with information about, and commitment to, prevention of HIV/AIDS.

My team-mates and I are paying all our own expenses, but we are raising money for the charity in order to provide cricket equipment and resources for Rwandan cricket, schools and clubs. I hope that you feel able to make a contribution!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thank You.