Beverley's Sharebook 

Firstly I've started helping a charity with their child sponsorship programme, and have been contacting people for the first time to ask if they would be interested in renewing their sponsorship. The responses are flying back all really positive and you forget the awkwardness of asking for money in the first place. (Although why it should be awkward I don't know, it's for a great cause - maybe it's the Britishness unease about talking about money?)

Secondly we are trying to raise money for a charity our work supports, and have just emailed local businesses asking if they have anything they could donate. In a short space of time we have been offered amazing prizes to raffle, and pretty much all of these businesses will have been hit by a third difficult year in a row. Many of these people we haven't met before.

Finally, my colleague has started to ask aquaintances if they have any old children's clothes so that I can distribute on my next trip out to Africa. Within days I have more than I can manage for the next five or six trips already, of good quality and in the days of ebay even more amazing.

As a result I'm full of warm and fluffy feelings for all the generosity that people show. Thank you, you know who you are!