I can't quite believe I am writing this but, in just a few days, I will be boarding a plane to Tanzania to take on Mount Kilimanjaro, the world's tallest free-standing mountain.

I am very fortunate to work for a fantastic charity called Farm Africa. We work to help end hunger in Africa by working with farmers and communities to grow themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty - for good. We provide tools and expertise to farmers so that they can increase their harvests and feed their families for the long term, whether they grow crops, fish or livestock. We like to describe it as providing farm aid, not food aid.

The challenge is a very daunting one for me - Kilimanjaro stands at 5,895 metres above sea level. Climbing it is equivalent to scaling Big Ben 61 times, and I am not a natural-born trekker! But in my job I hear stories every day of families who, thanks to Farm Africa, no longer struggle to feed themselves or have to choose which of their children to feed at supper time. These stories will be spurring me on up the mountain!

Anything you can donate will be very gratefully received. To give you an idea of what it might mean to a family in Africa:

£15 could provide tools to grow food on previously barren land.

£50 could buy enough disease-resistant seeds for an acre of land.

£120 could provide an African family with a camel to produce milk to drink and sell.

£350 is enough to help take one family in Africa out of hunger and poverty - for good.

Thank you so much. I'll give you a wave from the top!

Pen xx