From June 30 - July 12 I'll be walking the Coast to Coast path from St Bees Head to Robin Hood’s Bay in aid of ROKPA. That's a total of 190 miles over 12 days of walking; the equivalent of walking from my home in Sheffield all the way to Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery in southern Scotland.

It’s easy to think that when we give money to charity, it disappears into a black hole, helping people we’ll never meet in a place that seems so far away. I’ve just returned from spending 1½ years working as a volunteer English teacher for ROKPA at a Tibetan high school in China. I can tell you that for me, the money given to ROKPA was not abstract but meant that 250 of the students I saw every day could be there at school getting an education that could find them a job. They had the precious opportunity to carry on learning past the age of 16 and many had the chance to sit the college entrance exam. This is just a small fraction of the great work that ROKPA can do because of your wonderful donations so please give as generously as you can.

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.