University of Manchester English and American Studies undergraduates, postgraduates, staff and friends will be undertaking to read aloud the entirety of John Milton’s Paradise Lost on 10 December (the day after the poet’s 402^nd birthday).

The poem consists of well over 10,000 lines of verse and the entire marathon will take around 12 hours of continual reading.

This epic reading is to raise money for the RNIB (Milton became totally blind aged 46 and dictated the entirety of the poem).

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.