Many moons ago, I volunteered at Great Ormond Street doing hospital radio at the weekends. It was the most fun and the most rewarding volunteering I've ever done.

Years later, as I welcomed in 2016, eating grapes between the chimes of the town hall clock in Soller (Mallorca), I made a promise to myself to shake things up a bit this year - put myself out of my comfort zone and do something that might make a difference to someone who isn't me.

Two days later, on my way to do a photo shoot for Tom and Nicky Newman's production of Twelfth Night (it was amazing - five star reviews!!), I happened to see a copy of Metro with an advert for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Kilimanjaro 2017 trek on it. That was it. I signed up pretty much straight away.

Thing is, I'm a complete princess. I hate camping. I hate not showering or washing my hair. I really don't like the idea of sleeping in a sleeping bag. And the idea of not having a clean white flushable toilet at my beck and call fills me with more dread than standing in a room full of spiders...

And let's not even talk about the training I'm going to have to do to make sure I can breathe, let alone climb at 5,589m...

But here's the thing... If everyone of you reading this would donate just £1 to enjoy seeing me suffer, if you could pledge £5 to encourage me to keep going when it gets really tough - imagine the difference we could all make to a child's life... We could help to fund pioneering surgery, or buy equipment to improve the quality of life, or even just pay for a teddy bear for a child to cling to for comfort.

And that's really why I'm doing this - to make a difference to the children who need it most. And with your help - anything's possible!