Today 1,890 babies will be born in Malawi. 320 will become orphans, half because of HIV/AIDS. 87 will die before their first birthday from malnutrition or illness. And that is why the charity Open Arms Malawi exists.

For orphaned children, staying with the wider family is the best solution but formula milk alone costs £20 a month, and most Malawian families survive on less than £1 a day. So for many, keeping an orphaned baby alive is simply unaffordable. In response to the rising number of maternal deaths and orphaned babies in Malawi, Davona Church and Margaret East, opened the doors of Open Arms' first Infant Home in 1995 caring for 27 newborn orphaned babies.

In May 2019 I will be visiting Mangochi, Malawi for a week to volunteer in a nursery school and contribute to the construction of a new nursery home. Other than funding the new development, I will be collecting/buying toys, clothes and household essentials to contribute to the lives of Malawian children. My employer, Johnson & Johnson, works with Open Arms Malawi to run this project on an annual basis and I this year have an amazing opportunity to contribute to such a worthy cause.

To raise money for this cause I am taking on the National Three Peaks Challenge in May, where I will travel 462 miles, walk 23 miles and a total ascent of 3064 metres (10,052ft), in 48 hours.

Please sponsor the challenge I have set myself, all donations to help achieve my goal will be hugely appreciated by myself and those I meet in Malawi.

For further information, please visit Open Arms Malawi.