Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Over the years I've taken up and succeeded at some whacky challenges ... climbing up Mera Peak (6,476m) ... doing the winter Haute Route (skiing up as well as down staying in mountain huts for 6 days).  But up until now, I've always done them 'for fun'.  Really.  For this latest 50 mile mountain hike climbing 2,000m, over 24 hours, everyone kept asking me what charity I was doing it for.  My reply - "Errr, none - I'm just doing it for fun" - was getting a little embarrassing and was merely serving to confirm the questioners' views of me as slightly unhinged.  So in order to stave off  any more rumours, I've decided to try and fundraise for ....

Amicus, the charity that supports and assists capital defense attorneys in the U.S. by training and supplying interns and case volunteers.  The work that Amicus volunteers carry out is invaluable to the attorneys, who spend long, poorly paid hours representing individuals who are convicted of murder and face the death penalty.  You would have thought that those facing the ultimate punishment would receive, in 'the Land of the Free' a gold plated defence service.  But no.  To quote Pat Brown, former Governor of California, "The most glaring weakness is that no matter how efficient and fair the death penalty may seem in theory, in actual practice it is primarily inflicted on the weak, the poor, the ignorant and minorities" . For more details go to www.amicus-alj.org

Why Amicus?

As one of the original co-founders (along with Jane Officer) in 1991, and now as patron of Amicus, the Charity is clearly one that is close to my heart.  Amicus' first breath was inspired by the friendship between Jane, who has recently turned 80, and Andrew Lee Jones (death row inmate, executed 1991). Of course small charities are easy to set up, but - as I'm sure you know - keeping them alive and thriving through their initial years is difficult in the extreme. I was absolutely determined that Amicus (or ALJ as it was then known) would not fail, and confess to putting my career and family in poor second and third places, preferring instead to spend mad hours and loads of enthusiasm in its first seven years to make sure that Amicus would thrive and survive.

The challenges were many: turning the huge goodwill that Amicus generates from its UK lawyer supporters into a credible and worthwhile service that can be offered to U.S. defense attorneys was one; travelling to the U.S. to convince those defense attorneys that Amicus really had something good to offer was another.

The years have rolled on and Amicus has indeed survived and thrived. However even though it now boasts a dedicated staff team (that now carries out a much expanded version of most tasks I once did myself!), an excellent training programme and a team of intern volunteers helping out in the U.S. and U.K. on capital cases, the difficulties in raising money for this complex cause remain.  Hence my attempt to raise funds.

Although I've got a history of taking up challenges and succeeding, this time, due to injury, I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to start let alone complete the Hike (hence the late 'just giving' page).  But I'm now determined to do so.

Please back me in this, my latest challenge. 

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.