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Over the last three years I have been involved in fund raising for different charities and so far
have raised over £80,000 this has been distributed to various deserving causes such as Care for the wild international, David Sheperd Conservation foundation,
Fauna and flora international, N.S.P.C.C, Bwindi school Uganda, and Trinity Hospice.
It is very rewarding putting something back into society that hopefully will make a difference.
One particular project that I have been working on over the last couple of years began with my first visit to Ranthambhore Tiger reserve in Rajasthan, India.
" I couldn't see how this could affect the Tigers slow decline; something really had to be done about the root cause, the people who were directly responsible for poaching.
I spoke to lots of different people who all had different perspectives on how to tackle the problem, from shooting poachers dead on site, to trying to reason with them. I decided that education could be the answer.
Illiteracy is over sixty percent in men and a staggering ninety five percent in women.
Michael Jackson.
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I didn't really know where this money would be best spent, but was certain that I wanted to help the survival of the Tiger in some small way.
During my stay I had lots of propositions from different societies connected with Ranthambhore, from providing uniforms for forest guards, to photo trapping schemes to evaluate the true numbers of Tigers present in the park.
These people have no concept of the value the Tiger has and how important a species it is.
But why should they when they live hand to mouth each day, and their chief concern is putting food on the table. I think if we could offer the children of these villages some hope of escaping the poor existence they live in, then things could change for the better.
Families involved in poaching would realise that if their children had the chance of a free education which is entirely reliant upon the existence of the tigers within the park, if the Tiger goes so does the school, followed by the tourists who bring much needed revenue into the area.
I had over the course of the previous 12 months had raffles, donated paintings and prints for charity auctions and managed to raise around twenty four thousand pounds.
There also needs to be a deterrent, at present many people who are caught red-handed, seldom get prosecuted. The laws are in place but the will to put them into practice is not there.
That was until C.F.T.W sponsored Padmini Singh to set up a legal cell and take on some of the hundreds of cases that have been made against poachers.
She has had 90 successful prosecutions and has over 100 cases pending, she is a veritable force to be reckoned with and once she has the bit firmly between her teeth she does not let go. These people only need to be given half a chance and over time things can definitely change for the better.
I talked 
with my friend Goverdhan at length on the subject one night over the campfire and decided to offer him the full amount of 24K to start to build his dream school.
To say he was delighted was an understatement, this must be karma he said, "I have been given a five acre plot by my father, but until now I have had no funds to start such an ambitious project, it will be a flagship of education and conservation."
One year down the line and he has been true to his word, I visited the site where construction was well on the way.
The project is huge and will cater for over up to one thousand children when completed, half of which will be village children with an entirely free education.
He is still significantly short of funds to finish the project, but has already raised money from other sources and is confident that it will be finished and running by October 2002.