Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I have decided to cycle the Leeds to Liverpool Canal on the 26th August 2011. The route is 127.25 miles and most people take 2 days to cycle it. To challenge myself though I have decided to complete it in ONE day, which will take me roughly 15-17 hours depending on weather etc (and how shattered I am). The going is very intense so training has started and will be keeping a strict regime up till the day arrives.

The sponsor money will be going to a cause that we will ALL have seen over the last few weeks..... the severe food crisis out in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia which is desperate and has affected over 10 million people. Aid agencies say that weather in the region has become more erratic and years of war leave populations especially vulnerable. Prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa is the immediate cause as rains have failed over two seasons. Now this year's wet season has officially ended, there is little prospect of rain or relief before September. The UN has classed this as "pre-famine" – one step down from "catastrophe"!!

Our consumer society here in the UK throws away a staggering amount of food and waste:

·         we throw away 1.6 million whole untouched bananas every day

·        we throw away 1.3 million unopened yoghurts every day

·       we throw away 600,000 whole uncooked eggs every day

·       we throw away 1.2 million untouched sausages every day

·       we throw away 20 million slices of bread every day

·         UK consumers throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food every year - that's £10 billion pounds worth.

The figures above are unbelievable when you think that one child dies every 4 seconds of hunger in the countries affected.

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So please dig deep and donate now.