Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Mending engines and 2009

Goodness me ... it's been nearly three weeks since we took the bus to the Bradford on Avon event and I'm still buzzing with the excitement of it all! Having said that, I wouldn't describe looking for a replacement engine as ‘exciting'. ‘Interesting' perhaps, but not ‘exciting'.

Having considered a number of second hand Gardner engines for sale on the internet (a huge thank you to Keith for all the time he spent searching for them for us) and having spoken a few times with Bob at Thamesdown Transport in Swindon, I have pretty much decided to go for a fully reconditioned engine. This will obviously cost more, but it will come with a guarantee which I think is probably the most sensible way forward.

Engines aside, now is the time for us to concentrate on planning the 2009 bus tour and looking for ways to fund it. The costs involved in getting the bus out to an event are considerable. We need to cover driver and staff wages, fuel, various insurances, project managing, office admin and much more besides. Obviously this means we have to charge a booking fee. However, I really want to be able to reach schools and small communities who are unable to raise the full booking costs, so I'm exploring grant funding, looking at ways to attract donations, and talking with appropriate organisations about sponsorship/partnerships. There are lots of exciting opportunities for partnerships and it's great to discover that so many businesses, organisations and individuals are striving to achieve the same goals. It's so important for everyone to begin to work together as collectively we're bound to be greater than the sum of our parts!

As well as working on the 2009 tour plan and funding, we are doing lots of research to try and find new and exciting ways to demonstrate green living. So, with that in mind, I'm off to visit ‘Vegetable Kingdom' at the Organic Gardens in Ryton today! I'm hoping to come back with loads of new ideas for ways to inspire children to grow vegetables...and maybe some new varieties of seeds to grow myself!