Hello everyone! Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Writing a novel: we've all wanted to at some point, right? This year, as part of National Novel Writing Month, I'm actually going to. Yep, that means 50,000 words in a month, or 1,667 words a day, every day. An essay every two days. That could get tough.

Which is why I'm doing it for an amazing charity called First Story. First Story is set up to give deprived kids in cities a chance to finding their creativity through writing stories - and through that, find their own voice, their confidence. To do this, they take acclaimed children's authors like Philip Pullman and enable them to become writers-in-residence at 22 inner-city schools in London, Oxford, and Nottingham. They've already taken kids' work through the programme and got it published in anthologies and beyond on sites like Granta, and some of these children have been placed in work experience in the media and publishing.

And that was all last year. This year's programmes are just beginning, and with funds they can get even stronger. I remember having a less-than-fantastic time at school once in a while, and I know that a chance to write is a rare chance to speak your mind, and from that you can have an identity.

So, that's why I'm asking you now - if you can spare it, to contribute a little money to the cause. Be part of a big collective bet that if I really go for it, and drink enough tea, I actually can bash out a 50k word novel in a month. Why £500? Because that would equal a rate of 1p per word; a handsome commission!

SPECIAL BONUS: If you donate £5 or more then I will, on request (just leave a note or contact me some other way), write you into the novel - in some form. Be a part of 'literature'!

I have October to prepare. I have November to write. You can follow all the madness starting right now at my special project blog, http://saladonions.tumblr.com. And I'll likely be going on about it at @jamescmitchell (my twitter account).

All the JustGiving stuff: 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.