In just a few days I'll kiss good ol’ Blighty goodbye to go volunteer at a health clinic in The Gambia for 3ish months. Fear not! I will not be doing anything even remotely medical. I’ll actually be supporting the staff there with some fundraising, some website stuff and a few other charity organisational bits and pieces.

I'll be based at the Sibanor Health Centre which sees 35,000 patients from the surrounding rural areas every year, treating everything from malaria to malnutrition and burns to snake bites. Running for just over 50 years, the centre is well established and people travel for miles and miles to be seen by the doctors and nurses there.

Centre services include: a general outpatient clinic, maternity services, a HIV care programme, a 13-bed ward, a child nutrition programme and a Non Communicable Disease clinic (NCDs include cancers, heart disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases). The Centre would like to expand screening for these diseases to more villages. Both the physical symptoms and impact on mental health keep many people trapped in poverty. Earlier diagnosis and treatment would help people live healthier lives for longer. I will be helping to find funding for this project.

As a volunteer, I cover all my own costs. I have been saving for a million and five years but if you'd like to support me it would be greatly appreciated - in return I offer my undying love and devotion and possibly even a postcard!