Reason for being

Hello and welcome to my new blog.

This site has two simple purposes - one is to remind my friends, colleagues and relatives that the immense generosity they have already displayed in reaction to the Tsunami Disaster is only a starting point.

Not only will the victims of this terrible event need our help for many years to come, but there are also many hundreds of thousands of people across the world who already exist in states of extreme poverty. Long before Boxing Day, 2005 had already been identified as the year in which we must Make Poverty History.

The events of 26 December have added to the already huge number of people living in desperate need. In the meantime, others of us are living in relative luxury - and many, including myself, have increasingly taken this for granted. The widespread media coverage of such a dreadful event has jolted many of us back to real recognition of the state of humankind and its vulnerability.

This blog post by Dan is a stark reminder of the dramatic split between rich and poor. And this link (courtesy of Billy) also brings home what we already know - most of us who are in a position to be sitting in comfort at a computer are just so lucky!

The second purpose of this blog is far, far more prosaic! I desperately need to lose some weight - and I'm always rubbish at doing so, it comes off and then it goes on. So I'm going to put myself in the spotlight this year and do it not just for myself, but also for charity. I hope that your support will not only boost my willpower by a factor of several thousand but that, in offering that support, you will also contribute to ActionAid and its valuable work throughout the world.

I'm therefore asking each of you to sponsor me - either with an amount for each pound I lose or for each stone (14 pounds). My aim is to lose 6 stone (84 pounds) by the anniversary of the Tsunami Disaster on 26 December 2005. For those of you who can afford to, I urge you to sponsor me with a pound per pound. The more you pledge the more impossible you'll make it for me to fail! But any amount would be brilliant - perhaps £5 a stone, or 10p a pound. Please just give what you can. What you do give can be spread out across the next 12 months and so many of you will hardly notice it.

There is a fear that the public will forget about the victims of the Tsunami Disaster once the media spotlight is directed elsewhere. Another concern is that the huge public generosity demonstrated over the last few days will divert charitable donations from other, equally necessary, causes. By sticking with me for the next 12 months, you will help push this broad-ranging charitable commitment from the short into the medium term.

I don't intend to post often - a blog about someone's slimming efforts is unlikely to draw in the crowds. But I will, at least, post once a month to update you on my progress.