Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My school-friend, Daniel Braden, was among those killed in the terrorist attack in Bali in 2002. Daniel's family subsequently established the Encompass Trust based on the principle that when people truly understand each other, one to one, prejudice and hatred give way to bonds of friendship which transcend political and religious divides.

Encompass is a small charity, funded entirely by voluntary donations. It has eight staff, with co-ordinators in Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, Palestine and the UK. It is supported by a dedicated community of alumni and volunteers. It aims to help young people aged 13-25 who are either not in employment, education or training, marginalised, isolated, living in poverty or lacking a coherent voice in society. They run programmes that combine confidence building activities with workshops aimed at challenging young people to think about theirs and others identities, communities and cultures. Their long term goal is to engage young people who are marginalised, with activities that will boost skills, confidence, tolerance and employability. As a result of their programmes, young people have gone on to develop their own interfaith and inter-community cohesion activities and other projects. You can read individual accounts here.

In an era when people run marathons, climb mountains, parachute out of aeroplanes and so on for good causes, I am acutely aware that plodding along 10 kilometres near where I live is a pretty low-grade appeal. However it is at least a fig-leaf to ask you to consider donating. As part of a fund-raising drive, an Encompass benefactor has pledged to match all funds raised before the end of May, and I also plan to match whatever I raise - so you will get a decent bang for your buck (or pound or Euro).

This is a cause very dear to my heart and about which I feel strongly THANK YOU for reading this far.  Now dig out your credit card!