Update: Please have a look (and a laugh!) at the trip I make into work everyday, having taken up transport on two wheels... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81E1A4cAkDY

 

Update: 600km left to go until I reach my target! (Friday 30th July)

 

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Give a girl a pint and she'll be happy for an evening...Donate a girl the cost of a pint (or, dare I say cheekily, a whole round of drinks...?!) and she'll volunteer for ten weeks, changing the lives of whole villages and communities - and probably her own a little bit, too!

If 400 people can spare even £2.50 each, that will reach the £1,000 target to fund Raleigh International's projects in rural India...

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As the unfittest person you definitely know: I will be cycling 1000 kilometres in and around London over the next ten weeks. Please note, this is coming from the girl who very nearly gave up and genuinely almost keeled over after a 2km run. THIS, is going to be one hell of a challenge!

 

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read about my fundraising!

I am going to India for ten weeks this October to volunteer in rural communities for nearly 3 months. I will be helping with various projects that aim to improve and brighten the lives of people who are (financially) poorer than any I have ever encountered. A bit of help and a genuine working community relationship with the charity, Raleigh International, ensure that villagers can have access to clean water, they can have proper sanitation, and it helps to ensure that their lives aren't in danger because they simply lack very basic infrastructure.

I'm over the moon about this opportunity to go, and am going to work my hardest ever to get there. Any help you could give along the way would be most appreciated!

p.s. any money you donate to me for my efforts will all go to the charity, Raleigh International. I am paying for my own travel and my accommodation and food costs are already covered.

http://www.raleighinternational.org/about-raleigh/charitable-objectives

 

What your money will be spent on

Working in a Community.

1. Building housing and shelter for villagers that will keep them safe from the really wild wildlife!

2. Building education facilities where children from local villages can be educated and spend their childhoods safely growing up, a bit more like we can in the UK.

3. Bringing water sources to communities, so that villagers don't have to walk miles every day to get minimal amounts of (not always clean) water.

 

Making amazing Environmental projects happen.

1. Protecting the balance between Elephants and these small communities, which are often killed, or even kill villagers themselves, when searching for food.

2. Lending a hand to set up communities with sustainable ways to use cow poo (yes, that's right!) to cook their food and provide heating during the night and the winter and monsoon seasons, instead of burning neighbouring protected and endangered woodlands.

3. Setting up anti-poaching camps, that will ensure that the people who dedicate their lives to protecting their woodlands and wildlife aren't risking them unnecessarily, and, that they can safeguard the lives of the rapidly disappearing Bengal Tiger - a beautiful big cat that is at the top of the WWF's list of endangered wildlife.

 

A Personal Adventure

I will be lucky enough to complete a 200km trek across Southern India after completing our projects - a challenging but brilliant opportunity to live under the stars/creepy crawlies and to try not to get eaten by the wild animals!

 

What I'll be doing to earn your hard-earned cash!

* The main event, which will be taking over my life, consuming my every waking and sleeping minute and which will change my life before I even go to India:

As the unfittest person you definitely know: I will be running, cycling, trekking and crawling 1000 kilometres in and around London over the next couple of months. Please note, this is coming from the girl who very nearly gave up and genuinely almost keeled over after a 2km run. THIS, is going to be one hell of a challenge!

* Fundraising with gigs, pub quizzes, ridiculous themed evenings. Shameless publicity in the public eye.

* Waxing various male friends....(yes, YOU could be one of them that I've eyed up for this!)

* Odd jobs - selling my time, various talents and energies to anyone who will have me. If you need your garden clearing, or have had a humongous house party...dig deep and I'll do anything! (No shame, me...)

* Selling body parts/hair for wigs (should things get desperate)

* Other activities that I will think up to show you just how much I want to reach this target and get to India. If you have anything to challenge me to, bring it on!

 

Please note

Any money you can encourage my way will not go to my pocket - I am funding my own travel to India - your money will be given to Raleigh International charities, to provide for the aforementioned Community and Environmental projects for the poorest people in India, living in rural communities.