A brave man gives up cheese in August for charity

Reading my google alerts this morning over a bowl of bran flakes I came across a story that made me recoil in shock and fear - it was a story in the Wiltshire Times about a very brave man called Simon Guerrero.

Simon's fundraising for The Forever Friends Appeal’s NICU ‘Space To Grow’ Campaign to help them raise the £4.7 million they need. In his own words, he's doing this because:

I became a father on the 11th of June, 2008. My little boy, Oscar, needed a little extra help at the start of his life from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Bath's Royal United Hospital. The staff at NICU were fantastic and helped Oscar with the last little push he needed, so that he and his mum could come home.

So far, so reassuringly praise-worthy. But it's what he's doing, or rather *not* doing, to raise money that horrified me - giving up cheese for a whole month:

www.justgiving.com/nocheese (complete with an ode to cheese)

Yes, that's no cheese for the month of August.

Here's a picture of how that made me feel (next to the cheeses of the world poster that lives on the wall next to my desk):

Like many of us at Justgiving, I'm a massive fan of the Parmesan, always set for a Raclette and get fumin' without no Gouda with cumin (one of my top 5 European cheeses) - this you will see if you search for "uber tartiflette", my favourite Reblochon cheesy dish.

So I went as pale as Wensleydale when I saw what Simon was up to and his promise that...

All meals and snacks will be audited before consumption to ensure cheese is not involved in any way.

This is clearly a man not lacking in Beaufort-itude, bravely Manchego-ing where no cheese lover has gone be-Roquefort.

I certainly couldn't Camembert it, but you too can support his Brie-lliant fundraising efforts at www.justgiving.com/nocheese

Simon, we Port Salute you.

Comments

[Sam]

Hi Jonathan, your post really made me smile. I share your cheese passion - and Simon is a brave man indeed!

I'll visit his fundraising page now to wish him Gouda luck. Thanks for the laughs. :)

[Jonathan Waddingham]

Hi Sam, glad you enjoyed it - took me a from-age to write... (it didn't, cheap gag):P

Jealous that I didn't think of gouda luck!

As my colleague Simon has just said, it's chaume-ful.

[Nick]

Is that all the cheese puns you can come up with?

Surely there's stilton's more?

[Jonathan]

Hi Nick - are you saying you could do feta?

[Mark Hammond]

That's an eDAM funny blog post

[Jonathan Waddingham]

Mark, why, thank you. It's just something I Munster-ed up this morning.

[Kai Chan Vong]

And people call me a geek!

[josie]

crickey, that is a cheesy post.