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In July this year I will be going to southern Venezuela to trek the Amazonian rainforest and climb the flat-topped, tepui mountains unique to the Gran Savana area. My 3 week tour is to raise money for an NGO charity I worked for earlier this year in Kolkata, India, called The Hope Foundation. Hope provides slum orphans with basic shelter, food, education and counselling.

For too long such essential rights have been far out of reach for Kolkata's street children, cripling their potentials and trapping them within lifestyles of crime and poverty. Having taught in their schools and worked with their committed teams I have seen first hand the inspiring difference that Hope brings to children's lives. 10 year old delinquents have discovered constructive passions for art, 14 year old sex-workers have been introduced to safe boarding schools, and 17 year old mothers have received financial support through microfinance.Case by case, child by child, Hope is tiring away at making sure that happiness no longer seems like an unaffordable luxury.

Please help me support this cause by donating. All proceeds will go directly to the charity. It is through the organisations such as Hope that we privileged few can work towards investing in a fairer, brighter future for Kolkata's street orphans.

Your donation can help give these children the chance at life they always deserved.  

Feel free to also look at Hope's official website, where I will soon be publishing a fundraiser blog. http://www.thehopefoundation.org.uk/

The area I will be travelling to inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, and my final climb will be past Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall, and up to the highest mountain in the region - Roraima Tepui.

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.