Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving Page.

Repression, persecution and torture are still a sad fact of life in many countries. All over the world, brave men and women are harassed, detained, tortured and raped just for standing up to injustice, campaigning for democracy, practising their religion or supporting an opposition political party.

There are many organisations that do fantastic work highlighting these human rights abuses and campaigning for prisoners of conscience to be released, but who is there to provide practical support while they are in prison or when they are finally released and have lost everything and have had to flee to another country? The answer: The Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund (PoC), the only charity dedicated to helping some of the world’s most courageous individuals during times of crisis.

It’s their 50 anniversary this year and I am cycling with a small PoC team from London to Paris to raise funds and awareness for this small, effective charity. You can read more about them on their website: www.prisonersofconscience.org and if you view the promotional video on their homepage you will hear from two of their beneficiaries, Joab and Shepherd, who are cycling with us to Paris.

In addition, my employer has generously offered to match my donations up to a total of £750, so anything you can give will be DOUBLED at no extra cost to you, so it makes even more sense to sponsor me!

It would be wonderful if you could sponsor me so PoC can continue to offer a vital lifeline to people like Joab and Shepherd and their families.

Thank you.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.