I am a big fan of cross country running. Throwing in fire, electric shocks and tear gas only serve to make it more interesting! 

Slogging round an 11-mile course in all sorts of weather gave me time to reflect last year, and I would like to help two charities who make a difference to others in a direct and meaningful way.

Help for Heroes do just that, with their hands-on rehabilitation programmes for wounded soldiers. As a rock climber, I'm particularly impressed by their use of climbing walls in that process.

BulliesOut is a charity that is close to my heart. Although I haven't had any personal experience of their work, they are an organisation who go into schools to educate and inform youngsters on the effect and impact of negative behaviour in the hope of creating a safer and more pleasant environment for all. If only they had been around when I was a lad.

So, please sponsor me! This isn't a subsidy: I will bear all the costs of the events, training and transport myself. What you'll do is give me the motivation to continue beyond mile 15 of the weekend, and do some good in the world to boot. 

There are 14 individual events. A pound a race would be superb. If you think it's worth more than that to see my broken body limp into work the next week then by all means dig a little deeper! 

I have two pages set up, one for each charity. Please have a look at which one is lagging behind and give them the boost they need, or split your donation between the two. Thank you :)

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.