I'm jumping out of a plane on 7th May with a bunch of people at Betfair, and we are raising money for The Anthony Nolan Trust.  I'm hoping I can persuade you to donate even a small amount towards this excellent charity.  In fact I’m asking everyone if they could donate just £5 – I want to get as many as possible of you to donate small amounts as I’m sure you are all sick of being asked for sponsorship for things like that little jog round London this weekend.

Its clear that I'm doing this because, for whatever strange reason, I want to jump out of a plane.  I’ve got into various discussions about the “challenge” being too easy (i.e. not much effort required to just jump, once, and then land). For those who know that last year I ran 250km through the Atacama desert carrying all my equipment for charity, you are right – this IS a bit easier. But many of you will also know that I have a certain fear of flying, which will add something to the event for me.

The Anthony Nolan Trust is an excellent charity, and I want to make it clear up front that between Betfair and me, the entire cost of the parachute jump is paid for, so none of your donations will go towards my strange urge to free-fall from 10,000 feet, and all will go to the charity. In fact, Betfair is also matching any donations over £200, pound for pound, so anything I raise above £200 will be doubled!

There are a number of other reasons for support: the jump is the day after the general election, and by then we will know if we will have a hung parliament, and/or another 5 years of Gordon Brown (enough reason to leave the parachute behind on the plane when I jump?!).  Its taking place at the Oxford airfield (soon to be renamed Oxford International) which is close to where I live, so I'm hoping to get Vic and the kids to watch me plummet to the ground (in case anything goes wrong). And I’ve been told there will be no ash at 10,000 feet....

The Anthony Nolan Trust is a registered charity which helps save lives by supplying bone marrow and stem cell donors to patients all over the world suffering from leukaemia and related diseases.  It has more than 400,000 volunteers on its expanding register, and as it costs £125 to add each new volunteer donor to the register, fundraising is essential, especially as it does not receive any government funding.

Because the jump is taking place so soon (7th May), please, if you feel so inclined, get on with it and make a donation.  I’ll send you a photo, promise!