Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

There was a time when I could eat all I wanted and not put on a pound. But then I went on a school trip to Russia, got a chronic form of food poisoning and from that moment on, all I had to do was look at a Mars Bar and I'd put on a few ounces.

Back in January 2008, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I was told to lose a stone. I did. But I am sad to say I have put it all back on - and more. Five years ago, when I was Conservative candidate in North Norfolk I decided to raise money both for my campaign and for a local charity. I promised to lose 2 stone in three months. Amazingly I did, and raised more than £2,500. That taught me that if I have a goal, and have the possibility of shaming myself I will actually do all I can to lose the weight.

Well, I'm going to do it again and I want your help. The more of you who donate money to Help for Heroes, the more pressure that will put on me to achieve my goal of weighing under 16 stone by 30 November. At the moment I am close to tipping 18 stone (UPDATE: Actually, I've just weighed myself and I'm 18 stone 7 lbs. Terrible!), I am ashamed to say.

There's no hiding for me. If I don't lose weight, you will see the results on your TV screens. So come, on, help me out, put pressure on - and we can both help a superb charity fulfil its goals.

Thanks so much for your support.

Iain

PS 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.

PPS I set an original target of £2,500 but this has almost been achieved within three four days. So I have now doubled it!