On 7th October I'm running in the Royal Parks Half Marathon with the aim of raising £500 for Action Village India. Inspired by Nigel, Ben and Alex's 37 mile bike ride last summer for AVI I decided it was my turn to take up a sporting challenge. I'm very, very surprised to find myself saying this, but the training is going fairly well... I managed 9 miles this week! I've got a fantastic friend, Sid, who has been going on practice runs with me and will run with me in October. She's really encouraging and makes me feel it will be possible to cross the finishing line ...

I just want to tell you a little bit more about Action Village India. I worked for AVI from 1994 to 1997 and met Nigel in 1997 when we both went to India to visit AVI projects, so it's played a significant role in my life...

Action Village India currently funds 6 partner organisations in India. All six work in the Gandhian tradition of non-violent change and self organisation and were established and are run by local people. Their focus is on addressing economic and social injustice in rural India. They do this, for example, by supporting girls' education, promoting access to political and legal representation, supporting villagers' rights to basic services such as clean water and healthcare and providing loans to women at affordable rates of interest, so they can start small businesses such as selling vegetables. 

If you'd like to read more, please visit www.actionvillageindia. org.uk

If you are able to make a donation to Action Village India, I would be really delighted. I know many of you helped Ben, Alex and Nigel raise £740 on their bike ride last year so many many thanks if you are able to help again this year. A donation of any size would be really gratefully received!

Thank you.

Love from Louise xx

PS Here is some information below which has been provided by JustGiving:

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.