Students kiss as they march through the streets of Paris in support of the French government's draft law to legalise marriage and adoption for same-sex couples, January 27, 2013.
Students kiss as they march through the streets of Paris in support of the French government's draft law to legalise marriage and adoption for same-sex couples, January 27, 2013. Reuters

Peter Lynagh from Melbourne gave up sex for one whole year to raise £50,000 for charity. Lynagh has donated the entire money to Australian charity, Free to Shine, an organisation which focuses on educating and saving young Cambodian girls from the sex trade.

Lynagh, who lived a very fast life, dated several girls, had many one-night stands and hopped into bed with new partners very regularly, abstained from sex for one year and collected £50,000 to be given in charity. Speaking about the experience, 33-year-old Lynagh said, "I was going to give up women and sex... He (my housemate) said I couldn't even go a week, then this got me wound up even more." He further continued, "After making the bet for $2,000, Lynagh realised he could use it as an opportunity to raise some money for charity. I had a flash of inspiration that I could give that money to the charity, make it bigger than me."

Lynagh soon took his "bet" seriously and posted his decision on social networking site Facebook. Soon, a campaign titled 'Pete's Chastity for Charity' was launched. As per the rules, Peter Lynagh was not allowed to have a sexual relationship with anyone for one entire year, beginning from Jan 1, 2013. However, he was allowed to kiss.

Lynagh said that he was almost close to breaking his bet. "No one thought I could do it... I nearly came really close to breaking it, I started seeing a girl and I don't know why...I think she was just enjoying the fact I wasn't trying to get in her pants. That was a turning point, I just said I really had to take it seriously," said Lynagh.

Describing his experience as a journey of "self-discovery", Lynagh changed his focus. He established his own business and even traveled all the way to Cambodia in September to see whether the money that he raised was being used well.

Lynagh, who dreams of starting a charity on his own, is right now associated with The Big Umbrella project, a joint effort with The Father Bob Maguire Foundation, which promotes anti-slavery and rehabilitation programmes in Nepal.

When asked if he would abstain from having sex for one more year, Lynagh replied, "I don't think I would do no sex again for a year, I would like to do something else crazy and out there and different. If anyone can think of anything else crazy or quirky, I'm open to suggestions."