Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am embarking on what for me will be a difficult journey. Over the past few years, illness and the resulting inactivity and medication has had the unfortunate side effect of my putting on a lot of weight and the result is that I have become semi-spherical! 

I need to lose about 4 stone, which is no mean task, and I have age, meds that make me hungry and my general lack of enthusiasm for exercise against me. I have spent the past few months looking at what triggers make me eat and what helps to keep hunger at bay. I have also been looking into the NHS weight loss plan and am now set up and ready with the weight loss and activity apps.

As well as doing this for me, I also want to make my efforts worthwhile for others less fortunate.  I am a trustee of the Indian Rural Health Trust (IRHT), a UK charity whose sole aim is to fundraise for the Institute for Rural Health Studies (IRHS), who I did my medical school elective with in 1992. IRHS are based in Hyderabad, India, and they run village clinics in a very poor rural area in Telengana province, using local paramedics and healthcare assistants, and overseas volunteers. They provide almost free medical treatment to villagers, and support them if they need treatment in the city by providing a dedicated healthcare worker and money for a family member to stay with them and to buy food for their hospital stay. IRHS has also set up a cervical cancer screening programme in several locations in the district, and are able to diagnose and treat most cancers that they find. Cervical cancer is the biggest killer of young women in India, and this is a ground breaking programme. In addition, they run a health aid centre at the Hyderabad bus station, providing healthcare and advice to all comers.

Examples of typical costs include £8 per woman for cervical screening & treatment, £155 per month for a paramedic salary, £97 per year to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

IRHT has no overheads, and the trustees are all volunteers, so EVERY PENNY you donate goes to IRHS and into patient care.

I am setting myself a 6 month timescale initially. This is NOT a sponsored diet, but instead I hope that family & friends will support me with donations of encouragement along the way. That way, I always have added incentive to keep going, and I will put regular updates on this page in the hope that some of you might feel like spurring me on from time to time! 

For more information visit http://www.ruralhealthindia.org/ 

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.