Last chance saloon

So donations have been rolling in from some very generous friends and family over the past week and I would like to thank everyone who has given money to a great cause.

Funds will be used to help maintain the health of animals (farm, stray and domestic) in Malawi, to run education programmes in schools, orphanages and with local villages and to buy a local orphanage some things to make life a little more enjoyable & educational - balloons, facepaints, books, pencils, sharpeners (so they don't have to use razor blades!) and toys/footballs etc.

Most of the population in Malawi live on less than $2 per day so any donation is a fantastic bonus.

In would especially like to say a special thanks to Anna & Andy who donated £500 in memory of Matt (my cousin) who would have celebrated his 21st birthday last week.

The butterflies have well and truly kicked in this week, although I made a very important discovery of an extra week this month (hurrah!) which has meant that the butterflies remain butterflies and not huge dive-bombing moths...just yet. Lots of advice has been rolling in over the past week and some great pep talks over (copius amounts of) wine from some friends who have already done some work in Africa. It's all very exciting, but I maintain that anything featuring the words 'impregnated' (as in, mosquito repellent impregnanted clothing) just sounds plain disgusting.

Hope to see some of you at The Eagle on the first for drinks. In the meantime, if you'd like to contribute to the LSPCA and directly impact on lives in Malawi, please visit www.justgiving.com/lspcamalawi. Any donations raised will be directly spent on equipment coming out with me.

Megs x

Gearing up to go

Dearest Friends and Family,

Welcome to my new blog. This is the first time that I have tried to do anything so technologically advanced (apart from setting up my iPhone) so please bear with me if there are a few 'admin errors'.

So the flight leaves for Lilongwe from Heathrow on April 3rd and I am officially bricking it. I have so much to try and organise before I leave, though today I got the last of my rabies and Hep B injections (the nurse distracted me with a squirrel) and against my bank's advice, a 5-month subscription for Malerone (anti maleria tablets). At the price of these babies they should not only protect me from Maleria but provide me with my daily vitamin dose, improve my eyesight and do wonders for my bum. Sadly not...

I won't bore you with the details but the shopping list for the equipment grows ever long...which means that I have turned into that malicious money grabbing, charity championing 'friend', hitting you up for your hard earned cash so I can earn karmic points. The difference is that I'm shit at running, so won't be doing a marathon.

Picture my earnest expression though as I tell you how well your donation will be used. I will personally be spending your input - don't go jumping to any conclusions though!

I will be taking a bevy of useful stuff over for the LSPCA including office equipment, torches, water bottles, watches etc. And I will also be taking over things for the local kiddies seeing as Malawi is about the second poorest country in Africa and little things make a big difference.

Anything I purchase prior to the trip will be used to help the LSPCA deliver vital healthcare to Malawi's animal population - including keeping the instances of rabies down, helping farmers maintain their livelihood and chopping the nuts of stray dogs so they won't breed out of control and bite the many small kids in Malawi.

If you would like to support this wonderful cause I will be collecting donations via the LSPCA's JustGiving site until March 20th. Please donate if you can at www.justgiving.com/lspcamalawi.

Anyone donating will go into the draw to win your choice of Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka or Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey.

And finally, for those of you in the UK, I'll be having my last pints of real ale on Friday 1st April at The Eagle in Brighton's North Laines from 7pm. Come and join me for a few drinks if you're in the mood!

Stay tuned for news and pics from Lilongwe...

Much love, Megs xxx