About my challenge

YOU CAN FIND ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ABOUT MY CHALLENGE BY SCROLLING DOWN TO THE CHALLENGE LAUNCH ON THE BLOG, WHICH WAS MARCH 19, 2008. HOWEVER, HERE IT IS IN VERY SIMPLE TERMS!

My name is Kate Young, I’m 34 and I live on the Isle of Wight in southern England. I am a journalist on the Island’s newspaper, the Isle of Wight County Press.

In autumn 2008 I took an 18-day trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway from Beijing to Moscow. During the trip I was challenged to write AT LEAST 100 A5 pages about my experiences (six pages a day).

I exceeded the 100-page target and finished my travel diary on 120 pages. Lots of individuals, clubs and companies sponsored me to complete the challenge and immediately following my trip, I had raised about £3,000 for the Earl Mountbatten Hospice on the Isle of Wight, which looks after terminally ill people, including a couple of my friends who sadly died and left young families behind

However, the fundraising is not over – donations will still be accepted until the end of 2010 and I have just published the travel diary (released May 1, 2009), which I am selling with at least £4 from each book going directly to the hospice. See ‘The Book!’ on this blog for more details of how you can get your hands on a copy.

I have also created an exhibition of pictures to take to various forthcoming events, where I will still be collecting for the hospice – see ‘Events’ on this blog for the latest listings.

You can still sponsor me online at www.justgiving.com/transsibwriter or by snail-mail if you prefer. Please make cheques payable to the Earl Mountbatten Hospice and send them to: Trans-Siberian Writing Challenge, Fundraising Office, Earl Mountbatten Hospice, Halberry Lane, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK. PO30 2ER.

I am also available to give talks to groups – though please be aware that I do work full time, so evenings/weekends are better. Give me a call on 07791 803449 or email me on kate.drom@googlemail.com

Every last penny people donate to this challenge goes directly to the Earl Mountbatten Hospice.

You can find out more about the hospice on the website at: www.iwhospice.org

Many, many thanks – Kate.