Raising money for Lintha Village English School

Further to my last post, I have unfortunately had to pull out of the Morocco Hitch. I was looking forward to it but my partner dropped out, so for the last few weeks I have been looking for a replacement without any luck. Actually it's probably no bad thing, because I have something equally exciting around the corner.

Many of you will remember my trip to Myanmar and the amazing experience teaching in Lintha Village. Since 2006, the number of children attending the school has just kept increasing and increasing. The children now come from villages all along the coast, even as far as 10km away to learn English every day, and you can imagine that the tiny one-classroomed building is being stretched beyond capacity.

The Andrew Clark Trust (ACT) have decided to build a new two-story classroom next door to cope with the influx of children. They have raised £12,000 already, but need £3000 more to cover the costs, this is where I come in...

I have always regretted that my dreadlocks in my gap year never really worked out, and I also noticed whilst in Myanmar that a number of the girls shave their heads when the monsoon season approaches. I remember thinking at the time how liberating that must be, so when I was trying to think of how I could raise £3000 for ACT, the answer came quite easily!! I will be shaving my head next Thursday for sponsorship. On the annual metroline pub-crawl on Wednesday just gone, I raised about £150 which was a great start from the public of Newcastle. I am also having my hair made into a wig for theatrical purposes and a wig-specialist called Keith is giving me £50 for it. In fact, I've just come back from his salon where he has dyed it bright red for his wig!

So I already have £200, but now the real challenge starts... I need to raise £2800 from generous donations from all my lovely friends and family so this school can be built and make a huge difference to children's lives in Lintha. You can donate on-line at www.justgiving.com/clairehasnohair thank you for your support. xx