On 28th August we organised a barbeque to firstly celebrate my son Adam's 21st birthday and secondly to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation. In all, there was about 30 people at the barbeque, friends of Adam, family and other close friends. On the night we raised over £160, which was absolutely fantastic and a big thank you to everybody. Luckily, the weather was kind to us and I was at full stretch to keep the starving masses fed and watered. The party went on until the early hours with the younger ones lasting longer and they eventually left to go clubbing in town. Despite the vast amount of alcoholic beverages consumed everyone was well behaved with the exception of the ex-teacher Alan Chatting who managed to make an ungainly exit from the rather confused hammock (pictures to follow of Alan celebrating his dismount, with a style score of 0 and a humour score of 10!!).

To date I have raised £506 so thanks to evryone who has donated thus far. Please keep the donations coming in so that I can get closer to or even beat the minimum sum of £2,850. Thanks in advance.

Coming up on 10th October is World Mental Health Day and I am hoping to organise a variety of events around the city. The Evening Herald will be publishing an editorial from me about this in the next few days, so keep an eye for it in the business section. If anyone would like to hold an event, such as a coffee morning or free service, product, etc., with the customers donating the cost to this charity please contact me so I can keep the publicity going in the papers and include your name or business. If you need any advertising or ballons, t-shirts etc., just let me know. Please e-mail this to others you may know who may be interested.

Thanks everyone and take care.

Steve

Hi Everyone,

I am writing to let you know that I have volunteered to trek to Machu Picchu in Peru in aid of the Mental Health Foundation. As most of you probably know I have been in the process of managing my own challenge with mental health and I thought it would be a good idea to get involved with a charity that does a lot of good work in this field.

The Mental Health Foundation uses research and practical projects to help people survive, recover from and prevent mental health problems. They do this by learning what makes and keeps people mentally well, communicating their findings to a wide range of people, and by turning research into practical solutions that make a difference to people's lives now and in the future.

The trek is from 21st March to 30th March 2009. I need to raise £2850 by December in order to participate and I will be arranging fundraising events in the near future, details of which I shall be posting on this blog, so stay tuned. If you fancy becoming a sponsor or a helper or a coordinator then please let me know, I would certainly appreciate all the support I can get. In addition, you can also help by spreading the word about my trek to friends, family and colleagues.

The trek will be through the untouched Lares region of Peru, over high mountain passes, green valleys, tranquil mountain lakes and breath-taking views of snow-capped Andean mountains all whilst experiencing Peruvian life first hand. The trek will end with a visit to Machu Picchu, one of the world's most important archaeological finds.

I do hope you will be able to assist me, no matter how small or big, with my Peru Trek and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call me on 07890 622185 or e-mail me on scott.steve@tiscali.co.uk.

Bye for now and very best wishes to you all.

Lots of love

Steve