The epic Palace Paddle returns! On 26th June in association with British Canoeing our 30-strong team will set off from Windsor and paddle 20 miles on the famous river Thames to the shores of Hampton Court. This year’s team includes Olympic gold medalist Etienne Stott, TV consumer champion Matt Allwright, activist Nimko Ali and journalist Lucy Siegle.

Our hearts however -- and the goal and focus of our paddle -- remain thousands of miles from the Thames, in Kenya. We need to raise £15,000 to keep the non-profit Samburu Girls Foundation, founded and run by Dr Josephine Kulea, in business. Their business? Saving girls and young women from child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and beading (a practice where girls as young as 8 are sexually exploited), and turning their lives around so they can fulfil their potential and take their place as leaders.

Samburu Girls Foundation is brilliant at doing this. Over the last decade SGF has rescued over 1200 girls and is currently supporting 441 girls through pre-school to university; 32 of the girls are in colleges and universities.

By supporting our Palace Paddle and by giving money ‘from our girls to yours’ (to quote one of our lovely supporters last year whose daughters donated their pocket money) you are making a direct investment in young African women. Hands-down, that’s one of the smartest things you can do right now.

Watch Josephine Kulea's Education Gender Inclusivity Peace Talk

Every mile we paddle on the 26th moves us closer towards the FIFTH GLOBAL GOAL to ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’. You may have read that the battle to end FGM (female genital mutilation) has been won. Thanks to brilliant campaigners and their tireless work we are getting there. But the truth for Samburu women is that this area remains a hotspot for one of the worst forms of FGM in the country. We will only ensure the rights of girls and women if we take action to support change-makers like Josephine Kulea right now.

Josephine knows how to bring major change that transforms the lives of women and girls; the only restriction she has is funding. Born into the Samburu people in 1984, she accessed education and began rescuing members of her own family from child marriage, beading and female genital mutilation beginning with two cousins aged seven and 10. She has had guns fired at her and pretty much been threatened in every conceivable way. Every day her phone buzzes with tip offs of girls under threat and every day brings the need for a rescue. Every day she acts but she wants to do more.

At the SGF base at Loosuk, south of Maralal, the foundation provides education and psychosocial support for traumatised rescued girls along with food, shelter and practical things they need including clothes. The small FGM team work simultaneously to raise awareness about the Constitution and girls' rights in Samburu communities and run a reconciliation programme for the survivors and families. (Members of our Palace Paddle team are using their professional expertise to build a programme of psychological support for the girls as we try to help Josephine plan for the longer term).

But these girls somehow remain under-valued and funding remains scarce. Josephine has been backed by Barak Obama and in 2013 won the UN Person of the Year Award alongside at least 20 other international accolades. However to date she has received no substantive funding from international agencies. Samburu Girls Foundation runs miraculously on a shoestring budget.

So by supporting us to support Josephine and Samburu girls you are literally providing a lifeline now. We hope you will continue to follow this story, stay engaged and support and show the world that investing in these girls and women is critically important. We believe the girls of Samburu deserve our love, support and investment so thank you for your support from the bottom of our hearts!

Read more on Josephine Kulea and the Samburu Girls Foundation here: One woman's race to save girls from 'the cut', early marriage

Read more on UK based campaigner aka ‘Chief Fanny Defender’ Nimko Ali here: Ending FGM by 2030 will be led by women