Making life a holiday with interesting vacation and adventure ideas.

The 2009 Festival of Speed, will be held at Goodwood House, situated just outside Chichester, (PO18 0PX) on 3, 4 and 5 July. The promotional video is worth a look; fast, hot and very classy.

Lewis Hamilton's charity, the Lewis Hamilton Foundation (LHF) is the official charity for this year's Festival. LHF is a not for profit organization, focused on improving the lives and opportunities of children and young people, who despite living in ill health or poverty around the world, have a dream.

Labels: 2009, charity, Festival of Speed, Goodwood, Lewis Hamilton, LHF, video

I have created a lens on Squidoo called Gardens to Visit and while researching the Australian Open Garden Scheme, I came across their notice about the bushfires in Victoria.

Many beautiful gardens, including significant parks and landscapes have either been destroyed or severely damaged by the fires and I am sure that we all join with the Australian Open Garden Scheme in expressing deepest sympathy to everyone who has been affected.

The scheme organizers indicate that they intend announcing practical support for affected communities in their garden restoration and renewal activities.

Labels: 2009, Australia, charity, gardens, National Gardens Scheme, Victoria

Red Nose Day will soon be here again, Friday 13 March, 2009. It is the focus of the British Comic Relief charity and is a day that sees people doing all manner of silly things which raises money to help make other people's lives a little better.

Amongst many events and fund-raising ideas, they have sent a Dream Team of celebrities on a sponsored challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and earn £1,000,000 for Comic Relief.

The team comprises:
Gary Barlow
Cheryl Cole
Fearne Cotton
Alesha Dixon
Ronan Keating
Chris Moyles
Denise Van Outen
Ben Shephard
Kimberley Walsh

Sponsor the team and/or do something funny yourself on Red Nose day. Raise a smile and raise money for Comic Relief.

Labels: 2009, charity, Comic Relief, Red Nose Day, UK

It's called Micro-philanthropy but I wouldn't use the prefix 'micro' to describe any aspect of Mark Gold or the new Philanthropic movement that he has founded. He travels the globe, not for adventure, tourism or business but simply to make the world a better place.

Mark Gold is the founder of a non-profit society called 100 Friends (www.100friendsproject.org) and he has dedicated the rest of his life to helping people, usually the poorest of the poor, to whom help often means a small sum of money, frequently as little $10. Mark doesn't appear to have any religous or political affiliations and the money comes from donations made by like minded friends.

I have seen Mark Gold referred to as a modern day 'King Wenceslas' and you know the best bit, he has one simple requirement; each person he helps is asked to help a friend.

Labels: 100 Friends, charity, Mark Gold, Micro-Philanthropy, Stand Against Poverty

Next month, American Daren Wendell begins an 18,000-mile, hike around the globe.

He begins his seven year walk along the Appalachian Trail, then travels across the Atlantic to trek through Europe. His adventure will then take him to the Great Wall of China, Siberia and Alaska. The hike is more than a backpacker's dream and aims to draw attention to and raise money for the charity 'Blood Water Mission', which is empowering Africans to build healthier communities through sustainable clean blood and clean water solutions.

Follow Daren's adventures on his website.

Labels: adventure, charity, health, Hiking, World