Old Brentwood Jonathan Watson Lee got in touch with the school recently to bring fellow ex-pupils news of his mad-cap railway fundraising escapade. Jonathan has set himself the challenge of circumnavigating the four corners of India, travelling only by sleeper-class railway train to raise at least £1000 for FRANK Water, a UK-based charity dedicated to funding sustainable clean water plants to remote villages of central India.

Jonathan attended Brentwood Preparatory School and Brentwood Senior School between 1992 and 2003. After completing his Physics and Philosophy degree at the University of Nottingham, he decided to shun the more obvious careers of academic research and banking to try his luck as a film-maker. After working in London's film industry for three and a half years, he progressed to a fully-fledged holiday advert editor, but soon grew hungry for more interesting film work. It was a natural (and low-budget) choice to attempt his first solo film project in India.

Jonathan travelled to India in 2010 with the savings of the last three years work, and a vague idea to do something about the massive and unique Indian railway system. The current plan took shape over a matter of months, and the idea to raise money for FRANK Water came after a visit to the International Toilet Museum in Delhi, where he learnt of the desperate need for clean water supplies in the poorest communities of rural India. To find out more about FRANK Water, please click here.

Jonathan will visit the Eastern, Southern, Western, Northernmost, highest and lowest train stations in the Indian sub-continent. In an effort to reconcile the pomp of the Victorian gentleman, who introduced the railway to India in 1853, and the self-inflicted poverty of the Hindu holy man, he shall perform a pilgrimage with a severely limited trunk of possessions, and on a tiny budget of only £200 sterling (to spend on train tickets, food, accommodation and anything else).

Circumnavigating India by rail will involve nineteen back-to-back train trips in twenty days, with at least fifteen nights aboard various trains. Travelling by sleeper-class during July means he will be contending with very little sleep, unbearable 40°C+ temperatures, monsoon rains, toilets of questionable hygiene, dubiously prepared platform-food and thus near continuous Delhi-belly. Being a film-maker by profession, he will also be capturing his experiences on the rails in an effort to put together a documentary film about the expedition.

Jonathan will be funding all costs of the expedition and film production himself, but so that he can raise money for FRANK, he is making an appeal to Old Brentwoods and friends of the school to donate money towards the expedition. Every pound donated gives one person access to clean water for LIFE. You can donate to the cause quickly and securely through his Just Giving page, which can be accessed by clicking here.

Jonathan embarked on his journey on Tuesday 29th June and is keeping his friends, family and any other well-wishers updated with his progress on his blog: http://www.chapatiexpress.co.uk/

For further information, please contact Jonathan via email on jonathan@chapatiexpress.co.uk or call +91 971148262.