Set north of the Wall in the Arctic Circle, I'll be part of an army trying to defeat the Night King. Okay, not quite, but close. If you think of literacy as the force that can ultimately defeat the social ills that come from poverty and inequality, then you can think of our Arctic Challenge as a fundraising effort for a war against those social ills. I ask you please to help me in this fundraising effort.

This December, I will be part of a crack team pitting itself against others in a series of mental and physical challenges. These include a 35km dog sled race, a 25km Nordic ski, an ice fishing challenge, orienteering, fire lighting and a brain-boggling literature quiz. The winning team will receive the National Literacy Trust Arctic Cup! With temperatures potentially falling below -30 degrees C and sunlight only lasting a few hours, I will likely be pushed beyond my meagre limit. This is to raise money for a very worthy charity - the National Literacy Trust.

The NLT works to improve the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in the UK's poorest communities, where up to 40% of people have literacy problems. It's such an important issue that, if addressed early enough, can have a transformational impact on young lives and communities. The NLT tries very hard to raise literacy early to create that platform for success, a platform that we have likely taken for granted all our lives.