When the brilliant fundraising team at Concern Universal asked if I would take up a challenge for our campaign, ‘Survive 5’, the question they asked is “what will be really hard for you to give up and survive without for 5 days or 5 weeks?” 

The answer to this came pretty quickly as my little girl has just turned one and has now learned to walk and talk, but does not like to sleep!  The three things I am living off are: Coffee, Chocolate and fizzy drinks - Caffeine and sugar!

Giving up caffeine and sugar is not something I want to do for 5 minutes let alone 5 days or weeks and so I thought about some other things I could give up that wouldn’t be so difficult, but I really want to respect this challenge and let’s face it, these are things that I can survive without .

In a bid for solidarity, my other half has agreed to give up fizzy drinks (he drinks way too much of the stuff) and poor old Walter the dog is going to give up being a chubby Chihuahua. This will involve limited treats and a lot more running around (the dog that is!).

The question “what can you survive without” is a bit of fun for this campaign, a chance for us to challenge ourselves while raising some awareness and money. Yet when I think about our campaign, it is an opportunity to change the lives of thousands of children, who, without this help, will not survive to reach their fifth birthday.

So, what can I survive without? Pretty much anything if it means that my #giveitup efforts ensure that a child can survive 5. 
Please join me and hundreds of other people who will be surviving without between now and December.

To survive without and #giveitup please sign up here: http://campaign.justgiving.com/charity/concernuniversal/survivefive

Alternatively, you can sponsor me here.

Thank you for your support

Kathryn (Ben & Walter the dog)