The Justgiving Blog

Record breaking teenager Michael Perham has not only sailed into the record books, he’s also raised a stack of cash for his favourite charities.

Michael, 14, arrived in Antigua yesterday to become the youngest person to complete a solo Atlantic crossing. He set off from Gibraltar on 18 November and negotiated 3,500 miles of gale force wind battered, shark infested waters.

The historic voyage has benefitted Michael’s two favourite charities, Children In Need and Sailability. "I have been given the oportunity to do something I have always dreamed of," says Michael on his Justgiving pages. "Loads of kids don’t because of their circumstances."

Check out Michael’s blog for the full details of his incredible journey and sponsor him for Children In Need here or Sailability here.

Jay’s prize for scoring was a piggy back from team mate Darius Henderson

His team might be struggling at the foot of the Premiership, but you can guarantee Watford centre back Jay DeMerit is enjoying every minute of his debut season in the top flight.

Two years ago Jay was plying his trade for tiny Northwood FC in (deep breath) The British Gas Business Southern Football League Premier Division. Watford spotted his prowess, snapped him up and Jay completed a fairy tale ascent to the top eschelons of British football by scoring the winning goal in last year’s Play Off Final.

Now Jay is taking time out from marshalling Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry et al to raise funds for a cause close to his heart – Cancer Research UK.

As Jay explains on his Justgiving page, "When I played for Northwood, my assistant coach’s father died of the disease and I thought about how precious life is, and how swiftly and cruelly it can be snatched away."

Jay has recorded a single, Soccer Rocks, with some friends from his home town of Minneapolis and all proceeds will go to Cancer Research.

Jay lines up for Watford against Liverpool next week, so in a quiet moment before Alonso swings a corner into the box, we reckon he should ask Stevie Gerrard and Peter Crouch to donate a few quid.

You can listen to Soccer Rocks and download it here. Or donate to Jay’s page here.

Well, we’re all off to drink too much red wine and eat too much turkey. Thank you to everyone who’s read this blog in 06. Have a very Happy Christmas and we’ll see you in the New Year.

Here’s a sneek peek at our brand new Flora London Marathon flyers. You can send them to your runners to encourage them to use Justgiving.

To get your hands on a bundle, simply email molly@justgiving.com with your name,
address and the quantity of flyers you’d like. We’ll put them straight in the
post to you.

Excitment and donning of glad rags aplenty as we gear up for our Chrimbo bash at Meza in Soho tonight. Incriminating photos of the ensuing shenanigans will be posted for your amusement when we’ve recovered tomorrow (or the next day, depending on levels of sambuca consumption).

In the meantime, here are the odds on who’s most likely to get drunk and make a fool of themselves:

Tim        1/2
Molly       4/6
Jason      7/4
Neil         3/1
Ben         4/1
Tom        8/1
Chris       40/1
Derrick    50/1
Zarine     1,000/1