I have been involved with the Mellon charity since 2006. 

My first visit to the townships was November 2007 to Freedom Park building social housing to replace the old shacks and providing decent accommodation for families living there.

This will be my 8th time to volunteer to go back to the townships - during that time the charity has transitioned from building social housing to school construction to provide a decent education for the children who now live in the houses we built previously.

My work there involves 7 days on site, we get a bus at 7AM to take us to site and are back at our accommodation for 7PM - the days are physically draining due to the nature of the work and the heat (usually over 30C), but the work is very satisfying especially when you get to witness the speed of change when you have a few hundred people all working on the same build.

I know there are stacks of demands on money and loads of other charities out there too but if you are planning on supporting something I would like you to consider my work for this charity.

Many thanks to all who supported me last year - i couldn't do this without you.