A plea from me to thee

Next week, I am taking part in the Live Below the Line challenge.

To explain a little more about the cause and the challenge, here are some excerpts from the official website.

The cause:  Live Below the Line is an innovative awareness and fundraising campaign that's making a huge difference in the fight against extreme poverty.

Quite simply, we’re building a movement of passionate people willing and able to make a meaningful difference to those who need it most.

Live Below the Line is challenging individuals and communities to see how much change you can make out of £1. By living off just £1 per day for food for 5 days, you will be bringing to life the direct experiences of the 1.4 billion people currently living in extreme poverty and helping to make real change.

Think about that figure - 1.4 BILLION - that's over 20 times the population of the UK - living every day in extreme poverty.

The challenge:  From the 29th April – 3rd May you can spend no more than £1 a day on food and drink.

This means you have a total of £5 with which to buy all ingredients for your meals.
The full cost of all the items you consume must be included in your budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.
For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, simply work out the cost of each item per gram and budget your shopping proportionally. Separate your items before the challenge so there’s no need to be digging around in your cupboards.
You can share the cost of ingredients amongst a team, as long as no participant spends more than £1 a day or their total £5 budget. Working as a team will allow you to pool together funds and do more with your cooking.
You can’t grab a cheeky snack from the cupboard unless you include the cost of buying the item new in your budget.
You can use food sourced from your garden as long as you can account for the price of production!
No combination of meals on any given day can exceed the £1 spending limit. Remember this is a challenge to eat creatively and be enjoyed – don’t at any point deprive yourself of three meals a day.
You cannot accept ‘donated’ food from family or friends, but monetary donations towards your fundraising goals are acceptable, and encouraged!
You are allowed to drink tap water – remember you should try and drink at least 6-8 glasses of water each day.
Remember that cigarettes don’t come cheap either! Can you Live Below The Line and still manage to smoke?

So, there you have it - that's what I'm doing and why.

Sounds simple, huh?

But I am not doing this for the good of my health (although I probably should be).

I am doing it to raise awareness and, vitally, funds.

This is where you come in.

Yes, YOU.

Every one of my 425 Facebook friends.

Every one of my 256 Twitter followers.

If you all donated just one pound, I would smash my £150 target.

You would, collectively, raise £681 for those who really, really need it.

When I say every little helps, I actually do mean it.

Spare change welcome.

Together, we can make big things happen.

Please?

If not for me then for the 1.4 billion people currently surviving on less than £1 per day.

Thank you.