On Sunday, 11 October I will be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in for READ International and I think the following nicely sums up what READ are trying to achieve:

 

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

 

I have been extremely lucky throughout my life to have received a good education and have probably taken this for granted as a basic right at times without quite realising how disadvantaged I’d be without it. Whilst studying at I volunteered for READ International, a charity that aims to give children in a better opportunity to gain an education.

This is done by collecting tens of thousands of textbooks from schools throughout the and distributing them each summer in where the secondary school syllabus is almost identical to our own and taught in English but where money isn’t available to put into education and as a result resources are extremely scarce. In the a lot of money is spent on education and textbooks are often replaced by newer editions and many of these books are stored with no-one getting any use out of them. Rather than allowing these to collect dust or end up in a landfill site READ see a better home for them in .

The brilliant thing about the project is that while it would cost the Tanzanian government about £11 to purchase a book it costs READ on average less than 50p to deliver a book from a school in the to one in . Therefore it only takes a small donation to make a significant contribution to the prospects of a class of children.

Tanzania is an incredible country with an excellent chance to develop and I think the least I can do to support it is to go for a run before work a few days a week and complete a half marathon. However, it will only be made worthwhile if I get the support of my family, friends and colleagues so if you would like to make a difference please sponsor me and help me reach (and hopefully surpass) my fundraising target of £1000!

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: READ International gets your money faster and if you’re a taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation. To put this in context a £10 donation would pay for twenty books (plus an additional five if you’re a taxpayer) to be sent to Tanzanian schools.

For more information there are two excellent videos which can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvTn6NAcMig and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DUdE-g8_gM, and please do contact me if there is anything else you’d like to know.