My thirtieth birthday

7.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 29th Oct 2005

Colin's thirtieth birthday!

Today is my thirtieth birthday! Having seen lots of list of things to do before you are thirty, I thought I would try and come up with a list of thirty achievements, Here they are, in quite a random order:

1. Got engaged

2. Bought a house

3. Jumped out of a plane!

4. Got a degree, A-Levels, A/S Level and GCSEs

5. Stood for Westminster Parliament

6. Helped form Liberal Democrat policy on more than one occasion

7. Seen Iguazu, Niagara, Victoria and Angel Falls

8. Been a member of MENSA

9. Resigned from MENSA

10. Worked for the RSPB (the largest UK NGO/Charity) and helped to ensure that Government changed policies for the benefit of the environment

11. Won a sporting award, alright it was only crazy golf when I was young at a holiday camp with my family!

12. Been asked to be a god-father

13. Won Scout of the year competition

14. Scuba dived

15. Represented my school in various environmental competitions

16. Swam in the Zambezi although there were crocodiles

17. Flown a plane

18. Been interviewed on the news

19. Made a difference to people's lives through my employment and voluntary activities

20. Helped get two friends elected to Parliament, and many more to local councils

21. Seen Uluru, and other religious and quasi-religious places, buildings or monuments

22. Visited the wonders of the ancient Egyptians, Incas and Aztecs

23. Helped set up a large number of Local Youth Councils across the Country, allowing more young people to participate in democracy

24. Travelled extensively

25. Floated down the Nile

26. Met Betty Boothroyd whilst she was Speaker of the House of Commons

27. Climbed a volcano

28. Monitored elections in Ukraine and Kosovo

29. Been myself

30. Made lots of great friends