This year, my annual trekking challenge for the charity I founded, Pipal Tree, will be the 186-mile Pembroke Coast Path national trail. Between the 18th August and 3rd September, I will be joined by friends and charity supporters for various legs of the iconic route as they raise funds either on the ground with me or virtually from afar.

The trek will be particularly challenging for me for three reasons:

• Although it is a coastal route, it's a real rollercoaster with a cumulative ascent of 7,530m - that's 85% of the height of Everest!
• Last month my doctor told me that I am pre-diabetic. Diabetes is a scourge of the Holmes family, so I know all too well the dire consequences if I don't get off that slippery slope. Apparently, I have a good chance of reversing that situation by a combination of diet and exercise. Wait for it - I need to reduce my weight from 13 stones to 10.5 stones and return to the weight that I enjoyed in my twenties. That's two and a half stones to be shed - yipes.
• As ever, I will be entirely self-funded, so I will be camping for most of the way, come rain or shine. I should be OK on the Pembroke Coast Path, shouldn't I?

My team and I will be raising funds for two aspects of the work of Lily's Leaves, the fabulous social enterprise Pipal Tree helped set up in Nepal in 2020 and has funded ever since.

• £20,000 of the target will be towards a six-month project, starting in July, funding the production of dignity pads (reusable sanitary pads) by vulnerable young women (including deaf women) at the Kathmandu training and production centre. These will be distributed free to girls from the poorest communities in the southeast of the country to reduce school dropout rates. Often girls drop out of school when they start their periods and soon afterwards they enter the poverty trap of child marriage.
• £10,000 will fund a three-month project, beginning in October, through which we will pilot a new Lily's Leaves training and production centre in Sarlahi District. The training centre will offer training to 12 young women in basic tailoring skills. This will take place alongside four women in the production centre as they make 175 school uniforms for a local community school. These four women are graduates of the Lily's Leaves Kathmandu training centre from earlier this year.

10% of the above will be used to cover essential support costs in the UK (fundraising, audit, project monitoring and evaluation, travel etc) and any Gift Aid claims will be allocated to the charity's general funds to be used at the discretion of the Trustees.

So, please dig deep and encourage me along - I will need it! There are two incentives for you, beyond helping my fantastic charity:

• We have a matching pledge in place, so that the first £10,000 in donations will automatically double in value. In other words, a £5 gift made through this site becomes £10. One donation, twice the impact!
• If you donate, I will share with you a link to the informative and entertaining private daily blog that I will be maintaining during the challenge so that you can enjoy the experience vicariously - and no doubt some fabulous pictures along the way.

Thank you so much!