In February 2014, I visited Burkina Faso with 2 friends and 8 pupils from my school.  We worked with 5 charities whilst there and through the help of the International Service in York we donated £5000 in total.

One charity, HSB (Handicap Solidaire Burkina), struck a chord with me.  To see the work they do to help women care for their disabled children blew me away.

Having been in touch with HSB ever since, I've been told that they need to raise £3707 to keep the centre running for a year.  They then hope to expand the centre to help more families in the future.

I have seen first hand the amazing work they do, but they need as much help and support as possible.  One example = a young girl walking up to me having been unable to walk for the first few years of her life.  Your money will be going to a fantastic cause and I will let everyone who sponsors me know how you have helped with regular updates on my Facebook page amongst other methods of communication.

To begin with, starting today, I plan on covering 400 miles in 4 weeks.  Next up I hope to raise more money for my 40th birthday on 27th September this year by asking people to donate money to this online fundraising page and/or in person instead of receiving any present (which I do not expect to receive by the way - but any donation, large or small, would be very gratefully received).

If you could please spread the word, share this page, re-tweet it, etc., I would really appreciate it too.

£3707 is a huge amount of money for me to raise in 4 weeks on my own, but I'm going to do everything I can to achieve it.

Finally, I'm doing this in memory of my Nana who died last month aged 101.  So many of you knew Nana and/or heard so much about her.  She did everything she could for others and had a heart of gold, always wanted to help those less fortunate than her.  I can think of no better way to remember Nana and everything she believed in than by doing something like this.

Thank you so much and very best wishes to everyone reading this.

Andy