OK, I don’t normally do this.

Next month I’ll be flying out to Budapest in Hungary to meet some old friends and cycle around the beautiful shores of Lake Balaton (Europe’s largest fresh water lake). It’s a ride of around 200 km and I don’t envisage any problems bar the odd saddle sore and (let’s face it, when the boys get together) the possibility of a hangover or two.

As many of you will know, I spent five years living in Hungary and have a great deal of affection for the country. Hungary is small country and rarely makes much of an impact on international news channels. However, as the humanitarian crisis from conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and God knows where else spill over into Europe, Hungary has rarely been off our television screens.

Seeing refugees sleeping in the streets outside train stations in Budapest and fighting to cross borders from Serbia into Hungary and from Hungary into Austria really demonstrates to me how close these “far-away” conflicts are to our comfortable lives in the UK and the wider “Western” world.

I’ll be honest, I don’t understand the crisis. I struggle to identify who the good guys are in war that is so mixed up in politics, religion, tribalism and criminality. However, I do understand that the people who suffering the most, are the people who have the least opportunity to make a change in situation.

I’m supporting the British Red Cross because they refuse to ignore people in crisis and I encourage you to do the same.

Thanks for your support.

John

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