I am setting off on April 25th to walk across France from St Jean de Luz on the Atlantic Coast through the Pyreenees to Banyuls sur Mer on the Mediterranean.  That’s a distance of almost 500 miles the way I’m going,  with lots of ups and downs - a total ascent of 30,000 metres or so – over three times the height of Mount Everest!  I must be mad!  To see how I’m getting on, check into my blog at http://pyreneesapieds.blogspot.com/ or follow me on Twitter: @pyreneesapieds.   I’ll get back home just over a month before my 60th birthday so what better way to celebrate and to make it all count than fundraising for the three charities that are close to my heart.  This page is for FARM-Africa.  By donating money for FARM-Africa, you will be enabling African farmers to make sustainable improvements to their livelihoods and helping to equip rural Africans with the skills, tools and support they need to raise themselves out of poverty. Every penny raised makes a real and lasting difference to poor communities.   For example, just £30 pays for training and mentoring in water and soil conservation to improve crop yields and £300 could train and equip a local farmer to provide crucial basic animal healthcare in their community to prevent animals dying unnecessarily.  
So you can choose the charity that you would like to support, you'd better have the details of the other two charities I'm supporting through this walk:
- Wherever the Need: helping communities in Africa and India help themselves out of poverty by providing sanitation and water.  The fundraising page is on their own website at www.wherevertheneed.org.uk/individual.htm
- Julian House: the leading provider of services to single homeless men and women in Bath & NE Somerset and West Wiltshire, helping them get back on their feet and into independent living. The fundraising page for Julian House is at www.justgiving.com/walkacrossfranceforJulianHouse.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. 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.