Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: the Red Cross will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you (just remember to select the option provided).

The Red Cross is among the first agencies into most aid emergencies but also sticks around doing valuable long term work. They have a top reputation and a wide range of activities - such as famine relief, refugee assistance, prisoner welfare, and of course healthcare in all sorts of situations. Each national branch also undertakes work within the country. For these reasons I think they are a handy 'catch-all' charity with donations going to a good range of recipients. They get in the news a lot, but their quieter work is just as good.

In return for your patronage, I pledge to do my best to walk 150 miles of the South-West Coast path, between Minehead and Tintagel, between the 7th and 15th of August, 2004. There are 6 of us doing the full stretch and a few more popping along to mock us. All costs will come from our pockets, being a sort of holiday, so any donations go straight to better people than us.

This may be a holiday, but it's guaranteed to be supremely painful, so your donations will go some way to making the whole sorry exercise a little more meaningful.

If you want to donate to one of the other walkers' charities, be my guest. No hard feelings, honestly. No, really:

Joanne Hacking, walking for Oxfam - https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/longwalk Dan Taylor, walking for the MS Society - http://www.logicalgenetics.com/longwalk.php James Skene, walking for The Samaritans - http://www.justgiving.com/skenehurtsformoney Many thanks James