The St. James's Place Charitable Foundation is an amazing charity.  The four key themes that they back touch just about everyone with supporting young people, combating cancer, supporting hospices and mental health with over 80% of funds raised being spent in the UK.  The charity is exceptionally efficient with the costs of running the charity picked up by the company.  Further detail can be found by asking Mr Google where there is plenty of information on the recent grants that have been made as well as more detail on the charity (hyperlink). 

While most of my support to the St. James's Place Charitable Foundation over the last few years has been supporting others doing remarkable challenges and making a regular donation I thought that it was about time to do something a little more tangible.  I have previously cycled coast to coast and canoed the Thames so it was about time to find something that would be a real test. 

I am therefore immensely proud to announce that I will be undertaking what I think is quite a hard challenge to raise funds for this amazing charity.  I will be cycling 208 miles over three days with a total climb over 10,000 feet from Vienna to Prague.  It will not be easy.  I am also meeting ALL of my associated costs personally including flights, hotels and support so please do not think that supporting me will be subsidising my exploits.  Training so far has been building although that might not guarantee success.  An early weekend in March saw horizontal rain between York and Leeds with just enough sunshine for the picture!

I am seeking sponsorship and every single penny raised by myself will be matched by the St. James's Place shareholders.  Adding gift aid a donation of £1 could turn into £2.50 for the charity and as a higher or additional rate taxpayer then you can get further personal tax relief.  In the words of the supermarket every little helps.

When I signed up for this I did not realise quite how far this challenge was and also how close 17 May was. 

My target is as much as possible and I would urge all of my clients and contacts to dig deep for this very worthy cause.  Please make my pain worthwhile!

Thank you in anticipation and I look forward to reporting success and a value raised in due course. 

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.