Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor me online.

Once again I have am lucky enough to have a ballot place in the London Marathon and have decided to raise money for the Dar es Salaam SOS Children's Village in Tanzania. Having had a privileged childhood and good education opportunities I feel this is a way of giving these children the chance to grow and learn.

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world yet  still hosts more than a half-million refugees, more than any other African country, mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite the international community's efforts at repatriation;

The SOS Children's Village is located on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, some 10 km away from the city centre, next to the University, in the north western part of the city. It is clearly identifiable by the blue roofs and coffee brown walls of the family houses.

The Village comprises 13 family houses, the village director's house, a community and guest house, an administration and dispensary building, an aunts' house (SOS aunts care for the children in the absence of the SOS mothers) with a laundry and a services area including a workshop and a roofed meeting place ("Tukul"). It
opened last year so the village is not yet at capacity (children move in gradually to allow sufficient bonding time with etheir new SOS mothers) when full, there will be 130 children.

The village also includes an SOS Kindergarten with four group rooms including one Montessori/special needsroom, kitchen and side rooms. At capacity, the SOS Kindergarten will accommodate about 100 children in 2008 and 130 by 2009, from the children's village itself and the wider community.

All of your money will go towards clothing + school expenditures for the kindergarten: £100 will cover school uniform, books, classroom equipment and meal for one child for a year.  This includes catering for the special needs of any children too.  The charity's administration and other overheads are more than covered by unrestricted donations and tax recovered from those who have agreed to Gift Aid their donations.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: SOS Children's Villages will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support.