This time next week we'll be on our way down to Bournemouth and Poole for their amazing Big Green Fortnight and we won't be returning to base till Sunday 24th May.

Between 15th May and 24th May we will attend events in Bournemouth and Poole town centres, five local schools, Bournemouth Library and The Lighthouse Theatre in Poole. The week will culminate at Bournemouth Pavilion for a Big Green Open Day.

I have been working closely with the organisers of this event since last year and have watched it grow from a tiny germ of an idea into something quite wonderful that I'm really proud to be a part of!

How does an event like this begin?

Well, this all began last summer when Jane Bannister from Dorset Humanists came into a little organic food shop in Malvern where I happened to be helping out in the café. She introduced herself and asked if there was any way I could bring the Big Green Bus down to Bournemouth. I explained that our running costs (staff, fuel, insurances, driver etc) are quite high and that it wouldn't be viable to bring the bus all that way for a one-off event. I suggested she contacted her local council to see if they would be interested in helping but had no real expectations that anything would come of it. I couldn't have been more wrong!

On her return to Bournemouth Jane had a meeting with Lee Green from Bournemouth Council and I received an email from him inviting me to attend a meeting last October to discuss ways they could bring the bus down to Bournemouth for a series of events. By the time I went to the meeting, Bournemouth and Poole Borough Councils had joined forces and were talking about the possibility of putting on a ‘Big Green Fortnight'. We had an amazing meeting, full of energy and an exciting ‘can-do' attitude; it really was a very exciting afternoon and I came away buzzing with optimism that what we'd ‘talked' about might actually become a reality. People so often have great ideas that don't get picked up and run with, but this project has taken on a life of its own and has just kept on evolving and growing.

The thing I find most exciting is that Poole and Bournemouth councils are working in collaboration on this project; and in doing so, they have become greater than the sum of their parts. The two councils are now working on the project with many other local groups, businesses and environmental organisations - all determined to make the fortnight a huge success. The fortnight is being co-ordinated now by Emily Bullock of Dorset Energy Advice Centre and I take my hat off to her for the way she has held everything together for such a huge undertaking!

If you live anywhere near Bournemouth or Poole I urge you to have a look at the amazing programme of events here. There really is something for everyone and the only problem I have with it all is that I won't be able to attend any of the events because I'll be working on the bus!!! Actually, having said that, I'm going to leave the bus and sneak away for an hour to the Tatnam Organic Patch Open Day on Saturday 16th ... and I'm definitely going to try and get along to at least a couple of the film nights at The Lighthouse in Poole.

Anyway, I can't wait to get down there next week and be a part of all this and I would like to say thank you to everyone who is taking part for being so lovely every time I have had dealings on the phone or via email (and I can tell you there have been a lot of phone calls and emails flying around this last six months).

I'd especially like to thank Jenni from Transdev Yellow Buses who has arranged for the bus to be parked safely at their depot every night as well as providing a driver to get it safely to its first event of the day each morning. This is going to make our schedule so much easier. Transdev have even offered to clean the bus with their rainwater harvesting cleaning system!

The other people I would like to say a special thanks to are Jane Bannister and Lee Green for initiating The Big Green Fortnight, Harriet Stewart-Jones of Bournemouth Transition for arranging local speakers to do talks on the bus and Emily Bullock for keeping me so well informed. I'd also like to thank Anna Chamberlain from Thanet House B&B who has helped me find accommodation in various local B&Bs for all our staff over the ten days we are in the area; no mean task when everything seemed to be booked up months in advance I can assure you!

One last thing before I get on with my ‘list of things to do' ... I'm doing a talk at The Lighthouse on the evening of Friday 15th May so hope as many people as possible can make it!