The idea of growing a beard for a year has tickled me for quite a spell and I finally decided that 2013 was the time for it. Pulling this off for charity was the natural progression and with a few months of careful thought and research it seemed right that Crisis should be the benefactor.

Homelessness is a grim reality that most of us will never experience and only see through the haggard people begging on your high street. Whether it’s the man whose life has been the sum of perpetual misfortune or the lady who was one of 2007’s high flying bankers, homelessness means a lot more to them than just begging. It means freezing nights, lack of education, poor health, sleeping upright in phone boxes and abuse from all levels of society, to describe just a little.

The people at Crisis work bloody hard to counter some of these problems and help homeless people grab a rung to work themselves out of destitution. Through this Yeard I intend to become a Crisis volunteer hope to raise two grand through your kind donations and by promoting a number of fundraising events that shall reveal themselves as the days and weeks slide by.

For those who see this and tell others, thank you for your support; for those who donate, thank you again!

(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.