If you like what you see...

...then please follow our progress! You can follow in a variety of ways -

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If you think our work is good, events worth attending and jokes worth laughing at - then you might want to sponsor us a pound or two. We're not greedy - anything you can comfortably spare!

Follow our fund-raising on JUSTGIVING

Photoshoot with Ben Nolan on Sunday. A photographer and image manipulator of good stature! Lets hope he makes us look good - the plan is to get some of the shots in the press *fingers crossed* - we'll keep you posted!

Leeds Finest - MAG Fundraising Gig

Ok, time for a break from the heavy stuff! Here are some of the performers for the gig on the 2nd Sept at Angels Share in Chapel Allerton, Leeds.

Jonny Walker - Hallelujah - Live in Liverpool

Louise Distras - Spiders - Live

Bring yourself along! £4!

The World Is a Small Place

It's reassuring to hear that the UK is leading the way with donations to Pakistan in this time of incredible need. Reading that news in the Metro was well timed for me yesterday, it offered reassurance - perhaps those traditional Western feelings of 'we've got our own problems to think about' are beginning to subside. Three days before I was having to bite my tongue so hard I could virtually taste blood - I was providing half of a conversation with a small mind who discreetly objected to our charity ride. After explaining the merits of MAG the person in question commented about how the UK needs help more than anyone else in the world, about how our NHS is a sham and how "The UK is not a rich country, we should be asking for other people's help".

The irony of our situation was wasted on her. We were on a well serviced road, on a year old bus, on route taking us past one of the finest NHS hospitals in the country. The hospital my own Mother received exceptional and highly successful cancer treatment at just 6 months prior. My conversation partner continued about our lack of benefits, poor government and something else before her voice started to fade and the whole thing got filed into the 'disregard' folder in my brain.

Charities that work with people in the UK are vital and do tremendous work, of that there is no question. Consider this though - the world is unnaturally divided, divided by imaginary boarder lines or geographical features that are easily traversed. In the time it would take me to walk to my sister's house in Scarborough I could have flown around the world three or more times. The rest of the world is closer than it has ever been, yet these small minds still insist on relaying their well meaning solely on the top 1% of the worlds financial demographic.

There are terrible things happening in the world. I'm not for one second suggesting you dwell on them, I'm just suggesting you consider them now and again. They're not somewhere else, they're happening here, a matter of hours away from the where you sit reading this right now. I admire all charitable work but I certainly think charities that have to work to break down these imaginary dividing walls deserve a nod of appreciation.

Why ride for the Mines Advisory Group?

Let us not tell porky pies here - it was the appeal of Vietnam and Cambodia that drew us to this ride. Though, as the lust of the venue is overshadowed by the sheer hard work that's going to be needed - the love of the cause shines through. The more reading about MAG we do, the more passionate we become about the fundraising ahead.

MAG do unbelievable work in areas touched by the destruction of war. In many cases this work is in areas that were damaged decades ago but still carry the scars of the war today. Estimations suggest, during the conflicts in Vietnam and Cambodia, 10 million lands mines were planted. A lot of these claimed lives then, hundreds of thousands have claimed lives since, millions of them sit waiting to do the same.

Between the two regions MAG have over 750 team members. At the very sharp end of operations these include bomb disposal experts, mine detection teams and explosives dog handling teams. Following them and equally important, a huge team of liaison staff who conduct community meetings, intelligence surveys and much more. Teams in Vietnam alone have have cleared over 6 million square miles of land and have removed 25,000 mines and pieces of ordnance.

For us, it's the human element of what's happening out there that really makes this a cause worth riding for. It's easy to think that the Far East is a different world. We rarely hear about it on the news, we rarely think about it at all - but it's as real as the next city to you, the people are as real as your next door neighbours or your own family. When you honestly take time to consider that, you start to realise what a job MAG are doing - they're saving the lives of the of these real people - the farmers, the kids playing in the park, the women walking to the shops. They've already saved lives and the continual education they provide means that untold amounts children will grow up to enjoy something closer to the freedom we have.

So, we'll be bag packing, sponsored walking, running, cycling and generally breaking into a sweat to keep the funds heading to MAG who'll continue to work to keep people alive. I thought raising £6000 was a big challenge - the more I read the more it seems we've got the easiest piece of the jigsaw.

Test

I phone test hopefully this will work and means the laptop can stay at rods view when the idiots leave!!

Welcome

Really quick one to say hello and welcome to our blog, you all know what we are doing just thought this was a good way of posting on the road and processing our thoughts on the way!

More to follow
G&S