Swingin...

I'm usually found swinging through the trees, but this garden swing is all the way from Romania

It has been great to be involved in building 'Better Homes' in the village of Tarlungeni since 2007. Especially when you can see those in the village helped to create their own businesses

This is a swing made by my friend Sorin, now taking pride of place in my garden in Warrington

Fun day 2

Here I am with John Rushworth at the King's Fun Day. John is founder of the charity Mission to Eastern Europe, and he has been to Romania about 80 times, making a real and positive change to many, many lives

Click on the slideshow to flick through photos of me with other people who made me feel welcome during the day

Fun day 1

I had a wonderful time at King's Church Fun Day in Great Sankey, Warrington

Despite some rain and strong winds, I joined many hundreds in a great afternoon of fun, games and entertainment

... and a FREE hog roast ... fab

New home in Zizin

So much work is going on in the Better Homes project in the Roma settlements in the villages of Zizin and Tarlungeni

So far this year, three foundations have been laid for new homes in Tarlungeni, and one started in Zizin

FAST charity have already built 15 new homes since 2007, and helped many other families to improve their homes and chances of work. Please help them as they embark on these new projects in belief that the funds will come in and volunteer teams will visit to see them through to fruition

Monkey goes ape!

On my last trip to Romania I discovered the wonders of Parc Aventura. It is a fabulous place where humans can swing around between trees, doing things that us monkeys find natural

Better still, it is only about 5km from the FAST charity Ziurel Centre in Sacele. I had a great afternoon and will be returning

Magazinul Ziurel

Whenever I visit the Ziurel Centre in Sacele, I love to browse the shop there

If you are visiting as a volunteer, then remember to leave some room in your suitcase to bring a gift home

Also, there are lots of practical things you can buy as gifts for those in nearby villages

Gift for home

If you are planning to visit FAST then remember to leave some room in your luggage to take home a piece of real, artisan pottery, all made in a village just a few hours from Brasov

Just check out a very small selection by clicking on the slideshow, whilst helping FAST at the same time

Pottery at Ziurel Centre

What a surprise, to return to the Ziurel Centre in Sacele and to see all the climbing frames that had been made for me

However, it seems that they were intended for the wonderful pottery, all from a single village in Romania where all the families make traditional pottery

It does look good, though, and you can even buy some

Chilling out

Just as we finished our BBQ (see earlier article), it was a great refreshing to the 35 Centigrade heat

It came in the form of a mighty thunderstorm. Just look at the size of the hailstones

They hung me out to dry!

There I was, basking in the 30s Centigrade, and I was invited to go for a swim. It gave me a chance to practice my backstroke. Pretty good, I'm sure you'll agree (see slideshow)

Then, I was hung out to dry - great view but now quite as good as a tree