An interesting non-profit organisation was brought to my attention recently, called Pro Dono. They have a very simple premise – pay to meet your heroes (out of a bunch they have on their roster) and said hero donates that money to a cause of their choice, minus 7% admin fee from Pro Dono, but hopefully plus gift aid – so adding up to more than you actually paid. You can do whatever you want with said hero, as long as they're up for it.

They have 85 admired public figures lined up, raising money for 75 charities. Several of these are wildlife specialists such as Johnny Kingdom, the wildlife filmmaker, Sue Flood, a specialist in polar and marine environments, and keen birdwatcher and columnist Simon Barnes, who is raising money for the World Land Trust. I recently finished reading one of Simon's books on birdwatching as it happens – which I should blog about another time.