Anyway, enough about my pending doom... Earlier this year a good friend convinced me that if I was going to be stupid enough to have another go at a long-distance triathlon then I should really raise some money for charity again (apparently, sponsoring people makes him feel good about himself!)  So, assuming that at least some of you might have similar feelings about sponsorship, I started investigating various charitable organisations and worthwhile causes (of which there are many!) and what I have come up with is the Thai Children's Trust.  This is a UK-based charity that provides funding to support over 4,000 children in Thailand who basically have not had a good start to life.  I don't want to spend a lot of time giving you all of the heart-wrenching details of what these children have been through etc. as I don't think that is really fair but if you want to find out more about the organisation and the children that they help you can visit their website by following the link below.  

http://www.thaichildrenstrust.org.uk/

Last weekend, I went to Pattaya to see for myself how the funds provided by this charity are being spent in some of the projects there and I was shown around the Children's Home on the outskirts of the town.  This is a home for 86 children ranging in age from 6 to 17 who have nowhere else to go.  The grounds of this home are great and the kids have lots of opportunities to play and grow in a safe environment.  The children at the home are also taken to school every day and for a country where a very large percentage of the population don't have any secondary school education, it is a credit to this establishment that 9 children who grew up here are now studying at university and are being sponsored by the Home.  However, during the tour of the facilities it was clear that the boys' housing block was in desperate need of renovation.  The showers and toilet facilities were in a dreadful state and the bedrooms were stark  places with no opportunity for the boys to personalise their own space or have any privacy.  Also, the building itself could easily accommodate more than double the amount of children but unfortunately the numbers are limited because of the condition of the facilities and funding.  The Thai Children's Trust has committed to help raise funds for the renovation of this building which will make a significant difference to the lives of the boys living there.  The renovations are estimated to cost somewhere in the region of THB 1,300,000 (approximately GBP 26,000 or USD 40,000).  Whilst I don't imagine that we can raise that sort of money on this page alone, it would be really nice to be able to raise some money to help this organisation help the children.