Hello everyone, you might be surprised first of all to hear from me at all, and secondly maybe indignant that the purpose of the email is to ask for money - no, not for moi-meme, but for New Life Foundation where I've been staying since mid-February. But please don't delete me yet! NLF is a mindful community based on Buddhist principles which is dedicated to the recovery of alcoholics, addicts, people with anxiety or depression, and others suffering from stress or burnout. Sounds like a truly miserable place, huh? See the video below (with an appearance by moi just towards the end) for the joyful reality! NLF is fiscally conservative, it grows as much of its own food as possible, recycles EVERYTHING, and keeps its fees incredibly low to enable anybody to afford it. It also awards scholarships. Now it needs a new building to house its expanding life-coaching staff. The princely sum they need to raise is 9000 euro! That's because we volunteers and residents will be building the bloody thing, just like we're building the adobe house and the round house for staff. But materials will have to be paid for and that's where I hope you'll come in. A modest donation from you to help reach this very modest goal would be a much appreciated gift. And in return, I am going to make a fool of myself along with the other fools here in a flash mob in the next few weeks in Chiang Rai. Now follows the official PR blurb: Through simplygiving.com you can make safe and secure donations to sponsor me. The proceeds of your support are immediately sent directly to my charity. Using this given platform is really simple and most importantly it's also a really cost efficient way for the charity to raise funds. My page allows you to follow my progress; share it with friends; voice encouragement or even join me and get involved yourself! I will be taking part in Song for Space Fundraising Flashmob at the end of the month and aiming to raise money for New Life Foundation Back to me now: That's it folks. This place has been a wonderful help to me in my recovery from the stress of the last 18 months and I've seen the miraculous changes in others coming here with broken lives. My appreciation of the work of NLF compels me out of my comfort zone to ask you for a donation, if you have any spare change. And merci bien if you do. Best, Finn Finn O'Gorman