until i leave for Peru. Tomorrow night sees me leaving for Heathrow, many hours early due to travel restrictions etc on a Sunday night. Wahey. Feels a bit weird, knowing that the actual trip is now so close. Long trip to Peru. A few worries about luggage restrictions, could be interesting, especially with the current climate within the UK and airports. Anyways, I'm in London already, arrived late on Thursday night, now I'm off to get the final bits of my kit (spent £300 so far including vaccinations) Wahey!

Bring it on...

Hey Everyone

Despite the silence from me, things are looking good on the charity front, although the current round of sales is not quite making as much as I had hoped it would.  The money from this time round is being split between the charity total and to help me buy the kit I need for the trip.  It is very important that I get this money in, as I am struggling myself at the moment financially and cannot afford to cover these costs myself, celebs have donated their items in the knowledge that they will be used for this purpose and so I hope that you can bid happily knowing that the money you spend will be used for a greater good.

On another good note, you may have noticed the new text in the header box (if not scroll back up, its the writing in blue) which is the new personal endorsement of my fundraising from Tim Campbell (winner of series one of BBC's The Apprentice, with Sir Alan Sugar) and I am thrilled that Tim has taken the time to write such a glowing support.  Thanks mate!

So, come next week I will be off to Edinburgh for a month to work at the Fringe Festival so you might not hear too much from me over the next few weeks (tell us something new Robin, I hear you shout) so bear with me.

Make sure you check out the auction pages, theres loads up for sale and this will continue from my Edinburgh base over the next month, the more money raised the better!

Cheers Guys!

and see the colours of her

can't get that damn song out of my head, listening to it loads on myspace.  i urge everyone to pop over to myspace.com/crazyvincent and have a listen.

in the meantime, yours truly featured in the paisley daily express yesterday with an interview given a few months back to promote the trip to peru - the interview (minus promo photos) can be found at their website by clicking HERE

aside from that, i'm finally (and yes i know i have said this before) sending a cheque of to CRUK tomorrow to meet the final deadline (well with the exception of the funds trapped in my paypal account at the moment).

there will also be more items going up for auction in the next week or so, while every item i have available for the charity will be going on a special page on this site, and will be open to (sensible) offers unless it is on eBay at that point.  so keep looking back!

Wow - the charity night on Friday was immense - five live acts comprising of three musical performers and two poets blew the crowd away and raised another £278.63 for the charity total pushing me very close to the ultimate £4k target.  I'm holding off adding to on to the total just now until it is banked with some other money I have raised in the last week or so (ie from eBay sales which are just being invoiced and a donation from my in-laws to be) so that next time the total is updated it should be above the £4000 mark.

Back to the night and I would like to thank everyone who attended the evening, I'm hoping that you all had a great time and weren't too shocked by some of the nights more interesting events.  Thanks to all of the following...

• Billy Bates (despite the bar tab he ran up on my behalf, Billy if you are reading this do feel free to contact me and repay the £13 into the charity total won't you),
• Crazy Vincent who were the nicest guys you could hope to have performing and who played an amazing set, I hope to hear from you guys again!
• Granger - the final performance from the current line up who blew me away with their cover of Stiltskin's 'Inside' - one of my favourite songs ever! 
• Robin "I'd Rather be a Nudie than a Hoodie" Cairns who had the place in stitches with his performance
• Jenny Lindsay - who, despite being delayed in Wales for four hours made it to the gig to perform in style for the charity.  And who recognised me from my appearance on Reporting Scotland. What a girl!
• Dangerous Dave - what a man, behind most of the fundraising, got the acts together (before and during the event), kept me sane and donned a dress to snog Granger's Baker to raise even more funds (you guys paid £67.13 to see those two guys go at it!)
• Merchant City Music for supplying last minute mic stands and Sound Control for the mic clips and Bacchus for providing the venue and being everything I could have hoped for from a venue - even going as far as to donate all their tips from upstairs for the night to the total and making a donation out of the till! Thanks to all of you!
• Sara for manning the door, and giving me hugs when I needed them, Smins for putting up with her boyfriend committing the above act, all you guys for coming along to the gig and donating so generously and most of all ....
• Me - hehe

Photo's will follow once transferred from various cameras - if any of you have any to share - do email me on robintreksperu@googlemail.com and I can get them online.

Cheers!

Robin

The latest celeb to lend his backing to my cause is another who deserves HUGE thanks for it.  Tim Campbell (winner of Series 1 of 'The Apprentice' hosted by Sir Alan Sugar, went beyond expectation with a financial donation towards the fundraising total, which single handedly took the total through the £3500 mark.  Tim also has allowed me to use is his name to support my fundraising, hence the new addition to the top banner.

So Tim...if you are reading this - my thanks.

Three days until the charity gig and another change, Lunanbay have been forced to withdraw but have been replaced immediately by the godfather of soul (ok an acoustic guitarist) JAMES BROWN - thanks for stepping in James.

Tickets still available @ £5 a head, email robintreksperu@googlemail.com for more info.

Auctions going well online - top seller at the moment is the Reece Shearsmith signed headshot which is pushing £30 with a couple of days to go and several other items with lots of interest.  Why not go check it out to see if there are any items you would like?

Well I didn't think it would happen this quickly but that's me through the £3500 barrier with the fundraising and am a mere £500 short of the overall target to allow me to travel to Peru.  The only problem at the moment is the amount tied up in my Paypal account which can only be removed at a certain rate per month.  However CRUK have been notified of this, and we are working to make sure it isn't a problem.  Hopefully there will be enough money raised at the gig to ensure that the cash total is as near to the £3200 target for July 4th as possible.

With the gig on the horizon next week, tickets are selling and anyone after one should give me a shout @ robintreksperu@googlemail.com to reserve theirs, although I would be grateful if you would refrain from paying through Paypal. 

The line up is looking amazing with Robin Cairns and Jenny Lindsay (who opened for The Libertines @ Glastonbury 2002) looking to provide some excellent poetry for the evening.

There's also some great items up for auction on eBay at the moment including :

• Signed Sir Alan Sugar Apprentice Book
• Signed Vicki Michelle 'Allo 'Allo pic
• Signed Michael Owen photo
• A promo set from The Bill
• and loads loads more...

So what are you waiting for, get down there and check it all out!  The link is on the right side of the page in the menu.

OK...so its a wee bit blurry but this is the route I will be taking when I get to Peru, with Machu Picchu being the furthest point on the marked trail to the left of the map. 

Just thought I would share it with all of you so you had an idea what the trek is going to be like.  I'll try and get a better definition version of it up on the site soon.

OK...first up a wee change to the performer's list for the charity night a week on Friday - Andy Merry has withdrawn and has been replaced by Robin Cairns - a top quality poet who will add to the line up some style, humour and undoubted quality - thanks to Robin for agreeing to step in at the last minute.

Everything else is looking good for the gig and there are still some tickets available for this extravaganza of music and poetry with comedy and madness.

Away from the upcoming events, check out the total at the top of the page!!  I just totted up the funds raised so far and was delighted to find I had sailed past the 80% target by a long way further than I thought, nearly reaching the £3500 mark.  A lot more requests for autographs have gone out in the last week or so, and I am hopeful of raising well clear of the £4000 target, which should be reached by the time of the charity night!! 

After that, its some targeted fundraising, using items specially donated by celebs for the purpose of funding the kit etc. needed for the trip and then back to fundraising even more for the charity. 

It's Looking GOOOOOOOD Folks!

Yup, Monday evening's Reporting Scotland and who's there but the legend that is Robin. Hehe.  Missed it myself but informed I was quite fabulous.  Ahem.  Anyways, having been interviewed briefly by the BBC on the momentous rise to fame of Sandi Thom, I was more than chuffed to get several signed items from her for my fundraising (as well as a couple for my own personal collection).

Pick of the bunch is the massive promo poster for her album (which fits nicely into the poster tube I have at home at the moment which she signed in HUGE print, 'BIG LOVE, Sandi Thom ' in Black Sharpie - I'm open to offers on that one at the moment folks.  I also have a signed 7" Vinyl of 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)' available, so do email me - robintreksperu@googlemail.com - if you wish to make a bid.

Away from that, I'm finally going to get to the bank today which should allow me to confirm the actual balance of the fundraising amount and I'm quietly hopeful that it should be above the 80% fundraising target for this stage in the year.

Anyways, more auctions due to go online at the tail end of this week, if I can get to a computer that actually works so keep an eye out for them by Friday at the latest - There's some brilliant new items coming up for grabs over the course of the day.

Til then...