<p>Thank you for looking at my page.</p> <p>I am cycling 525km across Vietnam and Cambodia in February 2012.</p> <p>I am paying for the flights and travel expenses personally, so all monies which are fundraised go directly to The Stroke Association.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Why am I doing this?</p> <p>As you may know my grandma had a series of strokes which caused her to lose both her mobility and her ability to talk. She handled this with the determination and good grace that characterised her personality.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Until she had her stroke she had been very active and cycled regularly around her home town for shopping and paying visits to blind residents at a local residential home.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Stroke changes everything in a second but its repercussions last a lifetime.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I have the privilege to work with stroke survivors. The sudden change of life and throwing out of plans, maybe losing a job, maybe coping with a disability can be a daily a struggle. But despite these events I regularly meet and work with positive, motivated, inspirational people and I want to do something inspirational to give something back.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The Stroke Association provide funding for research, advice and publications. Services are commissioned by local health authorities or councils - so my fundraising will not come back to me!</p> <p> <p>&pound;20 Keeps our helpline open for an hour.</p> <p>&pound;50 Helps us to publish information booklets.</p> <p>&pound;150 Can help provide a &ldquo;Life after stroke&rdquo; grant to help provide essential equipment when stroke affects a person of working age.</p> <p>&pound;250 Could help provide audio versions of information leaflets for people with communication and vision difficulties following a stroke.</p> <p>&pound;500 Can pay for equipment such as digital voice recorders, laptops and specialist software for people with aphasia.</p> <p>&pound;1000 Could help fund a pioneering research project designed to improve understanding and treatment of aphasia, and the quality of people&rsquo;s lives after stroke.</p> <p>&pound;5000 Allows the stroke helpline to be in contact with over 300 people affected by stroke.</p> <p>&pound;15,000 Funds the equipment for an entire research project.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p>Just Giving DO take 5% of donations as some of you may have seen on the news, HOWEVER I have questioned this and for this they also administer the gift aid which would be a cost to the charity in terms of time and resources so it is not just taking a percentage for no return.</p>