Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

To mark my 40th Birthday (I know most people just have a party!) I foolishly agreed to swim the Hellespont swim from Europe to Asia, with several jelly fish to keep me company. My certificate says that I swam 6 1/2 km although the current helped out a lot and I think it was more like 3- 3 1/2 km.

Amazingly we were really lucky with the weather and had perfect swimming conditions. I managed the swim in one hour and seven minutes (if you look very carefully at the score board photo you can see my name) and actually enjoyed it.

I am raising money for the work that my amazing cousin is doing in Thailand, I was lucky enough to spend some time with her when I visited recently and see the fantastic work of Rainbow House, having also visited the state run orphanage there is no comparison in terms of quality of life for these kids.

Ruth would like to use the money to fund projects for the work she does with a group of 7 young adults all of whom have learning difficulties. The money will be used to improve their independence and vocational skills. If you want to find out more visit www.ccd-thailand.org or let me know as she has a u-tube link of some of her work and also a facebook site.

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.