Thanks for taking the time to visit The Ice Maidens, Kate, Emma and Gaby's JustGiving page.

It probably won't come as any surprise to those of you who know us well, but the three of us have decided to sign up for a crazy mission in early January - The Arctic Challenge - to raise funds for the National Literacy Trust's vital work.

The challenge will involve racing against other teams, dog sledding, cross-country skiing, ice fishing and woodland firelighting in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees C and largely in darkness as winter in the Arctic means very little daylight. We''ll also be sleeping in unheated huts at night and, shock horror, without access to our mobile phones! This is going to be one of the hardest things any of us has ever attempted.

Why are we putting ourselves through all this? Because we feel passionately that every child deserves the same access to books, reading and the future that this will give them. Currently an estimated one in five children have no books of their own at home and children's enjoyment of reading at an all-time low following the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. There are now more than 4m - yes, 4 MILLION - children living in poverty in the UK and it's widely accepted there's a link between child poverty and low literacy. In a country where we aspire for fairness and diversity in society, the opportunity and ability to read is vital and the National Literacy Trust is working tirelessly to give all children this chance.

It would mean the world to us, the NLT and to all the children that it helps, if you would sponsor us in this challenge. We have paid the costs of air fares ourselves, so that your money will go to where it really makes a difference.

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.