So I’ve been bricking it for the past few days, having volunteered to do a Sun-internal biker-themed collection on behalf of [www.naomihouse.org.uk] – my favourite human charity of the moment. I needn’t have worried about making a good showing.

The collection is still ongoing, and there is the motorcycle ride-out still to do with however many Sun-bikers turning up, but already we’ve exceeded our expectations.

Myself, Kirsty Windsor, Simon Bullen, Sarah Clayton, Ed Gilowski and Leonard Waterman went around and doorstepped the entire campus – visited every floor of all three buildings, and collected around 725 pounds sterling (= US$ 1392-ish) giving away free chocolate and raffling off our services as unpaid gardeners, with home cake baking and donated booze from other colleagues, as well as a selection of freebies kindly donated by Infinity Motorcycles of Farnborough.

Oh, did I mention Bikers? We all did this dressed in full biker gear, me in my offroad kit, and the others in leathers; Simon had to be forcibly peeled out of his 1-piece race leathers at the end of it, prior to his conference call.

The Sun people are stunningly generous, one chap visiting from the USA dumping twenty quid in the bucket because his Grandma had been well looked-after in a Hospice, and he approved of the general concept. Many tens and twenties arrived amongst the hail of ones and fives, and by the afternoon shift my fingers were falling-off from the weight of coinage in the bucket. My voice has packed up from the patter. I have no idea if we’ve broken a record for one day’s collection, but 725 quid is not bad at all (grin).

Now I have to work out the most effective way to get Sun to match it.

However, for the evening, I have had a pint or three with another colleague, and now I am off to bed.