Hello friends!

The people of Madagascar are on the brink of a devastating famine after the worst drought in decades. Hundreds of thousands of young children are facing acute malnourishment and families are reduced to eating raw insects to survive. Particularly heartbreaking is the fact that this famine is caused by climate change, not conflict, and the people who are suffering are not responsible for it’s cause.

I will be raising money for a small, long-established UK-based charity, Money for Madagascar. They help support a wide range of grassroots initiatives in the country, from reforestation, to training women and girls, to helping lift street children out of destitution. They are currently running a famine appeal and it is this which I am raising money for.

I will be walking the beautiful 56km long Gritstone Trail in Cheshire in several segments, sometimes solo, sometimes with family and friends. This may not seem like a particularly impressive undertaking but as I have hEDS and struggle with joint and muscle pain and fatigue it will no doubt be pretty challenging!

The walk also marks five years since my wonderful stepmother Aude Leonetti died of cancer at the age of 58. If she was brave enough to continue walking the Welsh coast path whilst experiencing gruelling illness then I can do this! She is missed and loved as much as ever, and I still find myself turning to her as a guide and inspiration, despite the fact she is no longer here.

I really hope you can help me raise some money for this important cause. Thank you for every donation, however tiny!