The Matterhorn.  the Big One.

I'm climbing it, you're sponsoring me £500, and here's why...

Following a successful fundraising year raising over £30,000 in 2009 in memory of my late brother Luke, the Depression Alliance invited me to join their unpaid board of trustees to help take the charity forward.

Our new mission - "We bring people together to make them happier", has three key strategies.

1. Bring together a community of people affected by Depression

For such a widespread yet hidden and underfunded problem, the only way to have a significant impact is by creating an online community that is self supporting and perpetuating.  We have identified that in the UK alone there are 250,000 every month people reaching out via Google by typing in Depression-related keyword searches.  Our plan is to "be there" when they reach out by creating an online community of people who have been there and are willing to share their experiences.

2. Develop services within the community to support the community

The chief medical officer at the Priory Medical Group is also a trustee, and with the community we will develop a range of services such as timebank skillswap, local community meetings, buddy and group support, a forum and blog sharing experience, and representation from specific groups such as old people, students and minority groups.  The online community website will be the glue that keeps the community together to deliver these services.

3. Raise funds to make the first two possible

So rather than ask all my friends and family again for £20 each I thought it would be better to invite ten partner business to donate £500 each to help us make this happen.  And lucky you have been selected to help us make the world a happier place.

This small investment will not only deliver a vast windfall of good karma that will enrich your existence; it will also help transform the lives of thousands of people that suffer in lonely silence form this debilitating illness.

Thank you for your support.