Sponsorship information and options

(Image reproduced from the World Vision website with their kind permission)

I posted some general information in earlier articles about why I'm doing this crazy Kili attempt with The Kili 5 in February 2007 and why I'm aiming to raise £25,000 for World Vision - here's a bit more stuff about sponsorship options and where the funds will go. And I know there's over a year to go but £25,000 is going to be A Big Ask / A Tall Order (depending on which side of the pond you are) so I'm starting early...

Individuals:

Please go to the bmycharity* site I have set up, where you can use a credit card to pay securely online. This will allow an immediate contribution which can be grossed up for tax relief - at no extra cost to you - if you tick the giftaid it box. Any funds committed now will be sent over to Tanzania by World Vision* to get the ball rolling on specific projects in Tanzania sooner rather than later (more detail on the World Vision projects below)

If you'd rather wait until we've actually been to Tanzania and suffered trying to yomp up Kili, then please pledge an amount by emailing me details of how much you'll sponsor...and any performance conditions:

- x£ all or nowt for reaching the summit

- x£ per 1,000 metres of ascent (target is 5,895....sounds like 6,000 to me)

- x£ per 1,000 feet of ascent (19,710 but let's call it 20,000 between friends)

- x£ for each time I throw up (from altitude sickness rather than the excesses of a previous life)

- whatever sadistic or creative condition you can dream up

Companies:

Rather than go through the bmycharity site, more of your generous sponsorship will find its way through to the World Vision* project (because I don't think companies can't sign up for the giftaid it option) if you could please send any funds direct to World Vision as follows, quoting Kili50:

Peter Halewood

Major Donor Executive

World Vision (UK)

World Vision House

Opal Drive, Fox Milne

MK15 0ZR

Cheques should be made payable to World Vision UK or I'll get hold of the bank details if you'd prefer to make a direct bank transfer

Of course the pledge options above apply if you'd rather see us suffer first before committing sponsorship!

*World Vision:

World Vision normally commit to send 78% of funds raised on to the charitable projects, with the remainder supporting their general running costs and other commitments. But I have received confirmation from Peter Halewood of World Vision that because of the size of this fundraising effort and since the funds are being raised with specific projects in mind, at least 97% will directly benefit the World Vision Tanzanian projects, which is fantastic

*bmycharity:

bmycharity charge just over 5% of the total value of the donation including gift aid, to cover their own admin costs. But because they encourage people to claim gift aid they estimate that on average, even after their charges have been deducted, the charity will have more than 13% more to spend on service provision than if the funds were donated by traditional means - so tick away on those giftaid it boxes!

But where will the funds really go......?

I know that these days we're all inundated with requests to give generously, and that sometimes the charity is either dodgy or gobbles up a huge % of our hard earned cash to finance their own bloated organisations. I know from personal experience that World Vision is a very professional and caring charity, and I've tried to ensure that nearly 100% of everything you can cough up will find its way to the intended - and very worthy - destination:

Key facts about Tanzanian (from World Vision Kisiriri School Project report)

• Population: 36m
• Life expectancy: 43.5 years
• 165 of every 1,000 children die before their 5th birthday
• 29% of under 5s are underweight for their age
• 22.9% of the adult population can't read or write
• 32% of the population don't have access to safe clean water
• 8.8% of the adult population are infected with HIV/AIDS

Any sponsorship we can raise from this Kili50 effort will specifically benefit the Kisiriri Area Development Project, a remote area in the central north of Tanzania, comprising the children and families in 19 villages. More details of the actual World Vision projects in Kisiriri ADP that your sponsorship will help will follow as the year progresses, but rest assured that the total target of £25,000 will change lives. What I like about World Vision is that they encourage local communities to help themselves over the long term, rather than throw money at a problem and hope for a short term solution, and disappear...the ADP started in 2004 and will be supported by World Vision for the next 15 years

I realise that I'm visiting their country just for a personal whim and that the cost of the trek represents more money than most Tanzanians can ever dream about...but hopefully raising £25,000 to benefit very specific projects in a small area of the country will at least give a little back to the country with a Very Big Mountain

I might have very different feelings after the attempt, of course, but right now I would appreciate any support you can give for the Kili50 initiative

And you can follow the Kili 5's efforts by bookmarking this Blog site now. Take a look at some previous articles to see the majesty of the mountain and its 5 distinct zones; my disastrous commute getting me out of circuits; the wonders of VO2MAX; why we're taking the Machame route...and going forward see how fit Steve is by the end of the year (he's progressed to walking to the car this month), how our Snowdon jaunt pans out, how the sponsorship effort goes...and much much more thrilling stuff

And finally, if any of this inspires you rather than makes you feel a bit queasy with the worthiness (and challenge) of it all, then it's not too late! But it soon will be. There are just a few places left in the Explore group leaving on February 23, 2007 with the Kili 5 in it

Ok, this really is the last word...please email this Blog link to all your contacts so that they can hopefully sponsor and send on to their own contacts. We need all the help we can get to raise the £25,000

Thanks for listening...and hopefully for giving