There are times when the words ‘Thank you’ seem totally and utterly inadequate.

A few months ago, almost two years after I first came up with the concept of ‘The Big Green Idea', I reached the stage where I had put absolutely everything I have (and more) into getting the charity up and running and I felt like I'd hit a brick wall. There was nothing left in the pot to finish the re-fit of the bus... let alone take it out to the communities who would benefit most from a visit and although I had received a huge amount of help and donations from lots of amazing people, I wasn't sure that I'd be able to ‘deliver' the project in the foreseeable future.

I'm a great believer in the power of positive thinking so I would never have given up, but it's an extremely worrying and frustrating feeling to be so close to your goal yet unable to reach it. The most horrible thing of all is the feeling that you are letting down all the people who have supported you so far.

At about this time, I did a small talk at Triodos Bank's AGM. Triodos is an ‘ethical' bank that attracts businesses and investors who want their money to make a real difference... in a good way. It is because one of Triodos's customers took a leap of faith and donated a large sum of money to The Big Green Idea that we have been able to complete the bus re-fit and get the bus out there making a difference.

Roger Ross really is a very special human being! He runs an auction house in London - Lots Road Auctions in Chelsea - and back in the 1990s he and his wife opened a trust account so that they could donate part of their income to charity. In the last 10 years, the trust has made substantial donations to charities all over the world including Friends of the Earth, Sustrans, Peace Direct, Amnesty International  and The Soil Association.

Without Roger's generous donation we would not have been able to launch the Big Green Bus and I would certainly not have been able to take the time out to visit schools and communities to talk about how our everyday choices make a huge impact on people living on the other side of the world, as well as on the the earth's eco-systems.

Through meeting Roger, and other people like him, I have now come across ‘The Funding Network' , an amazing organisation whose members have all decided to donate part of their incomes to good causes. You don't have to be ‘rich' to become a member; I attended one of their fundraising evenings a few months ago and listened to five people make presentations about their organisations. I was extremely moved by the passion of one of the presenters and pledged £100 to Vision Housing.

Although £100 is a lot to me, it is a drop in the ocean compared to what it takes to get a charitable initiative up and running. However, when loads of people make donations together, the £££s soon start to add up, and before you know it you have been a part of an evening where around £45,000 has been raised for good causes! It's a very exciting and empowering feeling to be a part of something like that, I can tell you!!!

So, The Big Green Idea, its trustees and all its volunteers would like to say the biggest ‘thank you' in the world to Roger for believing in our ability to make a difference. As well as using your donation wisely and stretching it as far as possible, Roger, we will also do our best to link up with, and help promote, all the other like-minded charities and organisations you believe in. Thank you... from the bottom of my heart.

To find out more about becoming a member of ‘The Funding Network' and how to use a part of your income to help make a real difference, please follow this link... http://www.thefundingnetwork.org.uk/becoming_a_member.php

Thank you also to everyone who has taken out a monthly subscription to The Big Green Idea through the website. Remember... ‘Together we are greater than the sum of our parts!'

Brigit