PLEASE HELP ME RID THE WORLD OF LANDMINES!
Landmines cause some 18,000 casualties a year – one every 30 minutes. A third of the direct victims are children, and the impact of mines is far greater than the immediate injuries: a single mine (or even just the suspicion of one) crea
tes the perception of a minefield and this denies freedom of movement, in some cases preventing access to farmland, water or essential services.
Although the Ottawa Convention, which came into force in 1999, has almost completely eradicated the global production and use of anti-personnel mines, there is a huge legacy of mines previously deployed in times of conflict: estimates indicate about 60-70 million landmines remain in war-torn countries worldwide . The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) works to clear the remnants of conflict from some of the world’s poorest countries.
Sebastian Snow is the chef/owner of the iconic West London Restaurant 'Snows on the Green', cookery school teacher, and veteran of many a fundraising trip including trekking the sahara last year.
I am seeking sponsorship for a charity bike ride through Death Valley in November 2007, organised by MAG . I chose MAG as they are amongst the most innovative of Non-Governmental Organisations working in this field, with a very efficient and lean structure: in 2005 £14m went to the “front line”, resulting in more than 1m devices being deactivated, with minimal administ
ration and fundraising costs of £200k.