My First Skydive

Firstly - thank you to everyone who sponsored my charity skydive. As a national charity for autism education, Treehouse is a very worthy cause - and are using raised funds to develop the school to take 80 pupils.

So now back to the skydive - if you haven’t done one - you should - truely mind blowing. I was pretty nervous prior to jumping, but once I had jumped - it is just such an amazing feeling falling through clouds at 140 mph, whilst waving to two people falling in front of me - really amazing… anyway for those of you who would like to see a snipet of the fall, click here.

Once again thank you to those who sponsored me - to raise over £400 for an amazing experience makes the whole experience even more worth while

Charity or Just Crazy - Kilimanjaro 2008…

 

 

Well after considering climbing Kilimanjaro for a good 10 years… I have finally made the booking and will be climbing the little peak in February 2008 !!! Those of you who are interested… heres some more pictures of Kilimanjaro.

 

Although the more I read the more concerned I become - oh well you only live once… may as well make the most of it !!! If you have any interesting comments or anecdotes on Kilimanjaro, please let me know !!!

Charity fundraiser… well enough to scare me…

It is 2007… and being a very lucky chap, I have started to make a number of plans for the year.

 

One of this is to raise some money for charity… totally selfless act… well not quite… I have always fancied jumping out of a plane… so why not use the excuse to pester friend / collegues / aquaintances etc for a charitable contribution… an excuss for me to enjoy something, whilst raising money for an incredible cause… watch this space for more….

Wealthy and Wise

On monday it was wonderful to hear of Warren Buffett’s wise decision to firstly deal with his weath in a responsible fashion, but secondly that he was not going to try and create a ‘competiting’ charity to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. In an age where there are more and more millionaires in the world; 8.3 million people with over $1 million excluding residences and 793 billionaires, it is fantastic to see these two leading business men act in away that others can follow. At the end of the day you can’t take the money with you… so why not redistribute it?

Some months back I was listening about to the launch of RED, a campaign backed by Bono. I found the tactics of RED uncertain, mostly because there seems to be too much promotion of products, companies and Bono. I can not think of a time that Bono will or would ever stand up and publicly do what Warren Buffet did this week. With the further announcement that Bill Gates will take less of a driving seat at Microsoft to run foundation full time, I hope that this foundation can become one of the greatest organised philanthropy causes the world has seen to date.

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world. In developing countries, it focuses on improving health, reducing extreme poverty, and increasing access to technology in public libraries. In the United States, the foundation seeks to ensure that all people have access to a great education and to technology in public libraries. In its local region, it focuses on improving the lives of low-income families.