It’s true. I care more about peace and fair food than I do about my own fitness or figure.
I am utterly in awe of people that run…swim… cycle… simply for the joy of it. What is THAT about?! When I do something ludicrous, it has to be oddly attached to some sort of cause.
And why is one of those causes Campaign Against Arms Trade – CAAT? Well, sorry to the marvellous team who do wonderful publicity, but my boyfriend has just hit on the best way of describing CAAT’s aims…
“Rebs wants to raise some money for CAAT – a charity who if their aims were met would save the UK BILLIONS of pounds; make some rich, immoral shareholders poorer and save the lives and limbs of countless people around the world.”
Yes. That. Simple, a bit unbelievable, a hard message to sell, but doing nothing will allow this trade to go unchecked.
So I’m doing something. When you look at the billions swilling around the trade of arms it’s small in comparison – but going FAR out of my comfort zone in a sea-swim triathlon feels a bit useful in the bid to raise money – and also talk about the reasons this is so important.
For those that care about facts and stats I will be running the Clacton ‘Sprint’ Triathlon on 8 September: swimming 750 metres in open sea water, cycling for 16 kilometres and running the final 5 kilometres.
So how am I doing?
Well, I have a triathlon suit. I haven’t worn it yet. And I have a wetsuit. I haven’t worn that yet either.
But I DO know how to ride a bike, and I’m getting much better at front crawl. And my 5 km runs are getting quicker. I just haven’t put it all together yet.
But some generous donations have got me close to my goal… and I’m a combination of unbelievably grateful and more determined to show them in September that their pennies were worth it.
So, please sponsor me if you’d like. Or, please support my lunacy by finding out something you might not have known before about the loopholes private companies can get through, or the extent to which this trade to human rights abusers is subsidised by our taxes.
And in return, I’ll keep this nonsense up. Deal?
Thank you.
I’m also raising money for the Food Sovereignty movement in the UK – a movement linking with the huge network of small farmers around the world to fight for systems of growing and distributing food to be in the control of those growing and consuming it. More info on that in this article.
[This fundraiser is now closed]
