I am fund-raising for children and schools in Vietnam and Cambodia on a 10-day, 400km cycle ride through Cambodia and Vietnam in November 2011.
"Please help me make this adventure come true by sponsoring towards this cycle ride challenge..."
This fundraising 10-day cycle ride through Cambodia and Vietnam is being organized by The True Volunteer Foundation (TVF) - an award winning iNGO that focuses on raising funds to build a network of schools and support orphanages in 28 countries. These new facilities will in turn make a huge impact on the lives of the local children, who, without this help, would never have the opportunity to attend school.
The 400km trip which will take me past lush green rice paddies, local villages, colourful temples, bustling markets and even one of the '7 Wonders of the World', will certainly allow me an experience of a lifetime. For as well as being able to travel off the usual tourist beaten track and find out more about the 'real' Vietnam and Cambodia, I will also be able to get a taste of how the locals live. Whether or not I actually enjoy sampling local delicacies such as sautéed garlic tarantula remains to be seen!
For someone who's never actually spent any time in the saddle, it's fair to say that peddling such a long way will also prove to be a physically challenging experience for me, and one which will hopefully see me return even fitter than I was before. So given that sore and aching muscles are going to be, well, a given, what was my motivation when deciding to embark upon this impressive show of peddle-power?
"Life is full of challenges and what I really love is trying to solve as many as possible. So how fortunate for me to find myself in a position where I can 'create' a new challenge for myself to solve, and at the same time, help create schools for those kids who so desperately need them."
"I see this Cambodia/Vietnam trip as the perfect way for me to complete the 'circle' on why I work, and that is to give something back. My most valuable resource is my time, so if I can give some of that to make wonderful things happen, then what I do is completely worthwhile."
"And, with the trip completing just days before my 50 birthday, it also seems like the perfect way to draw a line under a rather eventful year and set me off in the right direction on the first day of the next half of my life!"
Obviously 'Cycle Vietnam' is a fundraising event and I am hoping to raise as much money as possible - to justify the sore and aching muscles and of course contribute towards the tremendous work that the TVF plan to carry out in the region. So while I wouldn't dream of shaking a tin under your nose or ambushing you with guilt-inducing sponsorship forms, I would greatly appreciate any contribution that you might like to make towards this incredibly worthwhile cause.
And if you would like to pledge even a small amount of money towards 'Cycle Vietnam', for once you can be rest assured that 100% of the money you donate will go directly to the projects. During the trip l will actually have the opportunity to visit and volunteer in the new schools, so I will see first hand just how the money raised will impact the lives of the many children who need it the most.
There is also another really exciting way to give to this fabulous charity and the work we are doring for children in Vietnam and Cambodia. I recently created a treehouse for a filming project and the whole experience gave me a wonderful idea...I decided that I would like to create some more treehouses, just like the one in the film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxgj191gXEQ and donate the proceeds to my fund-raising effort - £2,400 donated for each treehouse created directly through this Just Giving page. Please read all about how with Treehouse Life you can give back AND save money by clicking here...http://www.lovetreehouses.com/treehouse-life-helping-you-to-give-money-to-charity-and-receive-tax-relief, thank you.
Opportunity and Internet connection allowing, I will definitely let you know just how well I fare in the saddle and keep you posted with details on all the wonderful work that's being done.