I am doing a 100 kilometre bike ride through Oxfordshire on Saturday, April 16, to try to raise the £2,500 still needed to keep two girls at school in Uganda for the next two years. (Please see update below.)

Elizabeth, 16, and Hope, 13, (pictured above with their older sister Patience) are the daughters of Gideon Byamugisha, a priest in the Church of Uganda, who in 1993 became the first African faith leader to openly declare that he was HIV-positive.

Gideon has since devoted his life to combatting the stigma, discrimination and denial associated with HIV and AIDS. He also established the Hope Institute in Kampala, where young people from low-income households (including many affected by HIV) receive training in vocational and life skills. So far, over 1,000 young people have graduated from the Institute.

In August last year, however, Gideon was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and for a while his life was in the balance following an operation. He has since made a partial recovery, but has been unable to work or earn any income. This has placed Elizabeth’s and Hope’s education in jeopardy. £5,500 is needed to keep them both at their boarding schools near Kampala for two years. So far, just over £3,000 has been raised. Please help raise the remaining £2,500.