I recently had the privilege to volunteer for this charity for 6 months full-time as a GSK PULSE volunteer.  I saw first hand the amazing work that this group of talented individuals get up to, and just how important donations and fundraising efforts are in enabling the charity to be ambitious in driving the malaria elimination agenda.

But, you might be thinking "Why give up chocolate to raise funds for Malaria"?   There are several reasons:

1)  I always think people don't want to sponsor others to do something enjoyable. I would rather go parachuting, but most of you know I am a complete chocoholic!  I eat chocolate most days, and have a very sweet-tooth.  So, giving up all forms of chocolate (in cakes, biscuits, ice-creams, desserts, milk, dark, white, nutty, praline, drinking) is going to be painful.  

2) Chocolate (unsweetened cocoa) has been credited with helping to prevent "malaria".

3) Malaria is preventable and treatable and it costs less then £1 for lifesaving medicine -the same price as one single bar of chocolate. So, I will personally be donating the amount of money I would spend on "chocolate" related products in a month! 

4) My dad suffered from malaria when he was a young man.  He had a lucky escape - but many don't.  If he had succumbed to malaria, I would not be here.  One of the best presents I have ever received in life, is what dad bought me for my 21st birthday!  21 chocolate cakes (I was really skinny before I turned 21!). 

I could go on, but in the time you have taken to read this, another child has died from malaria.  If you help sponsor me, I might kick my life-long habit, but together we might help give millions of children a life, through Malaria No More UK's important work.