On the weekend of Friday 29th June - Sunday 1st July 2007, a group of very talented and succesful comedians and..er..me, will be climbing the three tallest mountains in Britain (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) back-to-back within 24 gruelling hours. We are attempting the aptly-titled 'No Laughing Matter Three Peaks Challenge' to raise money for the charity 'Act 4 Africa'.  

Act4Africa is a health education charity which delivers HIV and AIDs Education and Behavioural Change Programmes in an effort to arrest the AIDS pandemic which is threatening a whole continent. The devastating AIDS crisis has infected 65 million and left 12 million AIDS orphans in Africa. Having travelled through Africa myself last year, I've been made starkly aware how crucially important this charity work is.

Obviously Act 4 Africa is a truly worthy charity cause, and I would be really grateful for any donations supporting my fundraising efforts. But also, please bear in mind what a scrawny, weak, whinging buffoon I am, and how much pain I (and resultingly, indirectly those around me) will be going through in attempting to complete the 'Three Peaks challenge'.

Please sponsor me generously,

Kind regards and heart-felt thanks in advance of your support,

Sy Thomas

07870 601930 or sy_thomas@hotmail.com

For more info about the challenge go here: www.rexboyd.co.uk/no_laughing_matter

For more information about the charity go here: www.act4africa.org.uk

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Act 4 Africa 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.

***UPDATE*** 8/6/07 - a couple of weeks ago I stopped off in the Lake District,  to test myself with a practice climb of Scafell Pike. I was hoping this would give me some idea of what the Three Peaks Challenge had in store for me, as well as break in my boots and other equipment. On a gloriously sunny day, I managed to make it to the summit in just over 2 and 1/4 hours and back down again in an 1 and 1/2 hours. This was a real eye-opener for me - going up was long and arduous, but getting down again I found to be the really hard part of the climb - by this time i was very tired, and it was quite stressful on the knees, and painfully slow. Overall I was pleased with my practice climb, although I had perfect conditions for it - when I do the challenge at the end of the month, Scafell Pike will be sandwiched between climbing two even taller mountains, and I will be climbing it IN THE DARK! I've realised how gruelling and tough this challenge really is going to be! ***