Colleagues, friends and sh...
As some of you may know, my wife Sarah and I will shortly be going off to Cambodia for 2 years as volunteer aid workers. My last day with what used to be Stasys will be 29 Feb and we will be flying out to Phnom Penh on 5 March.
First and foremost, thanks to all of you who expressed such strong support for this idea at the last FCA do. It's nice to know your views on my sanity haven't changed. Secondly, may I take this opportunity to submit my apologies for not attending the next few gatherings but I suspect the travel might be a little awkward. Nonetheless, whenever things get tough while I'm away, I suspect that I will be thinking back from time to time to many of the lessons I've learned from (and sometimes with) many of you in the past. And sometimes breathing a sigh of relief that things aren't, after all, that bad in comparison.
Enough smoke-blowing: now for the pitch. Sarah and I will be working in a programme that is run by the UK charity Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), which I'm sure many of you will have heard of. As a charity, VSO is heavily reliant on public donations for its funding, which goes to sending out and supporting almost 1,500 skilled professionals currently working in 34 countries. Volunteers don't get paid (although they receive a small living allowance), so the money goes directly to the programmes they are supporting.
Volunteers also try to help with fundraising, so Sarah and I have set up a
JustGiving page. Please take the time to
have a look (you'll also find links to VSO's own webpages) and, if you would, please consider making a contribution to VSO either through the page or by some other means. Although those of you who know me well would probably not accuse me of being sentimental, your support really would mean a lot to me on a personal level.
If any of you want to know more about what we'll be doing in Cambodia, please get in touch (or better still, buy me a pint). But if I don't see you before I go, au revoir and the very best of luck to you all. Keep the flag flying high!
Cheers
Perry