BORNEO (1/14): Introduction to Borneo Millennium Challenge

This text is a written record of before, during and after the Borneo Millennium Challenge event. The main reason for keeping such a written record is because people, be they friends, family or colleagues, have asked to know all about it! This text will ensure that I don't forget any of what is going to be a memorable challenge in a unique part of the world.

As I write this section, it is just ten days before we depart from Heathrow Airport and it's just two days before my hair is shaved off in a last ditch bid to raise the money I need to reach my minimum £2,750 sponsorship target. I suppose I am rightly apprehensive about having my hair shaved off, but I'm more apprehensive about the expedition in Borneo.

I can remember like it was yesterday when I first became aware of Children Today's Borneo Challenge. It was a really hot day towards the end of last Summer. It must have been in August because I hadn't had the opportunity to lounge around in the back garden before then! Determined to get a tan before another long winter arrived, I relaxed on the patio with a magazine and a drink in hand. Being a subscriber to Men's Health magazine, I flicked through the pages of the latest issue. An insert, advertising the Borneo event, fell out. I picked it up, read it and was instantly enticed by the prospect of climbing 14,000 feet and white-water rafting.

I read on and discovered that it was a challenge established to raise money for local disabled children. Being hard-of-hearing myself, I've always felt for disabled children who so often endure a miserable childhood. Last Summer, in June 1999, I had taken part in the Three Peaks Challenge for the second time. This involved climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland, Sca Fell Pike in Cumbria and Mount Snowdon in Wales within 48 hours. The event was in aid of the British Heart Foundation. It was only natural, having done this event twice already, to want to do something more challenging which is why I went ahead and registered to take part in the Borneo event.

Nothing could have prepared me for how quickly the next six months would fly by. As I write this, I'm still £120 short of my target; that is how difficult it has been to raise the money. So far, I've held an auction, hosted a successful Christmas raffle and have appealed to local businesses for support. Now, in two days time, I'm having my hair sheared off! Pictures of the event will appear throughout the text so as to give the reader a visual insight into all the goings-on!