Regular readers will remember Alastair Humphreys, a fairly extraordinary Yorkshireman who has been filling us in on his round-the-world cycle ride on an annual basis.

He's also raising money for charity and - despite having recently having his own wallet stolen in the frozen wastes of Siberia by three vodka-filled, gun-toting muggers - has emailed us asking to help other people. In the circumstances, we felt we could only pass the message on to you all.

So here's a quick word from Alastair:

"2004 has been a big year for me and I wanted to thank all of you who have supported me. I really, really appreciate it. I would never have made it this far on my own.

"2004 has been an even bigger year for Hope and Homes for Children as they celebrated their 10th anniversary and continued their incredible efforts in many difficult countries.

"At the beginning of my fourth year of riding I set up a new website for collecting donations to Hope and Homes: www.justgiving.com/roundtheworld.

This money makes my efforts seem considerably less futile: every kilometre of cycling through the Siberian winter raised money which will go to help young orphans who are the helpless victims of vicious fighting or the ravages of AIDS.

"I hope that you can spare a moment to visit the website of Hope and Homes - www.hopeandhomes.org - and that it may motivate you to spare a little money to support their work.

"Christmas places painful demands on the wallet, so to compensate for my shameless self-promotion here are a few tips to help ease the pain...
1. imagine Christmas to be a time of peace, goodwill and giving rather than a tiresome, tacky month of Jingle Bells, cheap mince pies and the exchange of mutually unwanted socks.
2. resign yourself: your credit cards have taken a pounding; a little more won't hurt any more.
3. tell your friends about Hope and Homes. Perhaps you can get them to cough up instead. [Tip taken - Ed]
4. Be careful when donating online not to accidentally type in the credit card number of your husband/flatmate by mistake."

We urge you to make a cold cyclist happy. And we recommend all his previous pieces on Guardian Unlimited, and also the latest instalment on his website - a great read.