A Word from our Trustee...

Back in 2006, when I first met Brigit Strawbridge in a windswept Northampton field, she explained she was thinking of setting up a charity to help get environmentally friendly ideas spread through local communities. She had this idea of getting an old bus, doing it up and then using it to educate children, low income families, youth groups and... well anyone she could reach really. Having seen the original 'Its Not Easy Being Green' TV series, in which she and her family motivated so many people, added to Brigit's infectious enthusiasm, this sounded like a worthy goal to me. It would be a heck of a lot to do, but it might just work...

Fast forward to 2010 and The Big Green Idea has now been running for several years. Our beautifully refitted secondhand bus has been out and about spreading green ideas, true to Brigit's word. We've reached thousands of people and hopefully nudged them into making those little green changes in their lives that we all need to make to tackle the environmental issues facing this world. Brigit has hosted talks, run workshops and opened events from the south coast to the Midlands.

However, we've now reached a turning point for The Big Green Idea for several reasons. First, Brigit has decided to step down from her lead role in the charity. She has worked tirelessly to help the charity achieve what it has and for that we are all truly grateful. It has meant a massive responsibility has been placed on her shoulders and she has put the charity before herself for far too long. She can now take a well-earned break and then tackle some other projects she is involved with.

Then there is the question of resourcing. The BGI is a relatively small charity and the Bus is a rather expensive resource to run. Until now we have had great success getting small grants and funds from councils and educational establishments to bring the Bus to local events and schools. However, the current climate of impending funding cuts is making this model look less viable in years to come. The Bus has been based at The Fold just outside Worcester for the last year or so, which has been a great base for mobile operations but is not ideally suited to provide a ‘static' venue for the Bus that we could bring people to regularly.

Resourcing is more than just money though - the Bus needs people to staff it. We can't just pull people in from the street to do this - they need to be well versed in various aspects of green living ranging from renewable power to reusable nappies, have appropriate training and certification (for example CRB checks, first aid or the ability to drive the Bus) and be available to attend events, often during the working week. We've had a great group of folk step up to do this over the last few years, but getting the right people at the right place at the right time has proved to be a really time consuming job (and yet another one that Brigit has usually pitched in to do!).

After her decision to step down and with a changing funding climate, Brigit and the charity trustees needed to find a way forward. We looked at several options but the one we opted for was to see if there were any other charities with similar aims to the BGI that could make better use of the Bus in the future. We contacted several groups and it soon became clear that there was one group that would be the most appropriate match for us: the Eden Project.

The Eden Project is based in a disused quarry in Cornwall and like the BGI their aim is to show people how they can live a more ecologically sound life, and how their actions can affect the world around us. Unlike the BGI they have a large site that is already a major tourist attraction: whilst we've reach thousands of people, they get over a million visitors every year!

Therefore they could use the Bus during the summer season to provide a static base for their public contact staff to reach far more people than we could hope to, especially if future resourcing issues would mean that the BGI had to scale back on the number of events it attended with the Bus. The Bus would also allow Eden to engage in more ‘outreach' work as well - for example attending festivals and taking their message out to schools and communities in the south west, much as the BGI has been doing in the West Midlands over the last year.

Therefore during July 2010 the Bus started out on its new adventure, with Brigit and a couple of the core team driving it from The Fold in Worcestershire to deliver it to the Eden Project folk in Cornwall. Over the next few months the remaining BGI assets will be wound up and we'll be donating the remaining balance to the Eden Project to help them run the Bus over the next year or two.

So whilst the BGI as a charity will soon be no more and this will be the last BGI newsletter you'll receive, our legacy will live on. If you visit the Eden Project this summer you might well see the Bus in action there, doing exactly what it was intended to do: helping show people how to make easy green changes day to day.

One last thing remains for me to say and that is a big thank you from the Big Green Idea trustees to all the people who have helped the charity over the past four years, whether you've worked in the office, been a volunteer, attended an event, made a donation or just spread the message for us.

Thank you all!
Jon Knight