Kicking off phase 2 of ColaLife
May 31, 2010 by Simon Berry · 2 Comments
PSI Headquaters, Dar Es Salaam, November 2008
ColaLife is seen as a cool campaign but we are now moving into a carefully planned implementation phase while continuing to develop and support a vibrant and engaged band of supporters.
Despite our current image, we have already had an impact beyond campaigning. During my visit to Tanzania in November 2008 I managed to squeeze in a meeting with Dr Jane Miller at PSI Tanzania and talked with her about the ColaLife vision. Following our discussions Dr Miller made direct contact with the Coca-Cola bottler in Dar Es Salaam and now condoms are being distributed to clubs and bars. In early 2009 I brokered the partnership between AED and Coca-Cola at the global level and this led to Coca-Cola working with AED in ‘The Learning Lab‘ in Tanzania.
So what does the plan look like moving forward? There are three main strands to the work programme:
- Africa: There are two steps to the work in Africa:
- Local fieldwork and partnership building
- Identification, with the help of Coca-Cola, of a location to trial the ColaLife concept
- Detailed research to identify the partners needed locally and internationally to implement an independently evaluated trial of the ColaLife concept
- Establishing trusted links with these partners and working with them to co-design and cost a plan for the independently evaluated trial
- The implementation of an independently evaluated trial of the ColaLife concept
- Local fieldwork and partnership building
- Worldwide: In parallel with the work in Africa, support the engagement of young people with the ColaLife concept through:
- Support for the establishment of societies in schools and universities (we already have three of these established)
- The linking up of these groups so that they can support each other with ideas and materials
- Funding: Our aspiration is to fulfil an enabling and innovation role and to link up and fund existing organisations to undertake these activities - particularly the work in Africa. So fundraising will be the third thread of activity as we move into ColaLife Phase 2
What would we do without UnLtd?
May 25, 2010 by Simon Berry · 8 Comments
We’ve made three applications for funding to organisations which support start-ups. The first one failed because we were ‘not advanced enough with the ColaLife project’. The second one failed because ‘we were too advanced’. The third application was to UnLtd and today we heard that this bid has been successful. They have agreed to provide us with an award of £15,000 to cover living expenses to enable us to dedicate ourselves full-time to ColaLife. The award is a joint award to Jane (my partner in ColaLife and life!) and me.
This is wonderful news. Like so many people say “What would we do without UnLtd?”. The money is one thing but the other benefits are just as important:
- Getting an UnLtd Award is a highly competitive process and knowing that our plans have been scrutinised by some of the best brains in the social enterprise world and been approved will help other supporters see us in a more serious light.
- UnLtd has a cracking reputation for spotting winners and helping them get started. Our aim is to enhance this reputation further.
- Then there’s the UnLtd support network that we are now part of as an award winner (actually, UnLtdWorld and SETAS are open to all).
This couldn’t have come at a better time. There has been an atmosphere of excitement and anxiety at the prospect of me giving up my job to focus full-time of ColaLife. But as the date approaches, the anxiety was definitely getting the upper hand over the excitement. But not any more!
We will publish our UnLtd/ColaLife plans tomorrow but right now I’m going to have a beer!
Thank you UnLtd. We will reward your trust in us.
Onwards and upwards.
If you devote your time & attention to the highest advantage of others, the Universe will support you.
Buckminster Fuller
Getting the kids on board
May 22, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
I picked up a message last night while clearing my Facebook inbox from Jon, an old friend who is now a teacher. He has also run the fabulous Warwickshire Youth Jazz Orchestra (WYJO) for many, many years and really knows what makes kids tick. The Head at his school is desperate to find a way of overcoming the ‘charitable apathy’ they are seeing these days amongst youngsters and the school is looking for new ways to get them motivated:
‘These lads respond far better to interesting projects than to the standard requests for charitable giving!’
So, Jon’s wondering if ColaLife can help. Little does he know but, fingers crossed, help may be just around the corner:
In our recent bid for support to UnLtd to develop young people’s engagement with ColaLife through work in Universities and schools, we said:
1 in 5 developing world children (1.5 million annually) die before age 5, often from treatable causes (diarrhoea, malaria, poor nutrition/sanitation). Poor awareness is compounded by scant local availability of simple, cheap medical and health supplies (eg Oral Rehydration Salts, vitamins). With poorly developed rural transport and distribution systems, it is simply not economically or logistically viable to set up dedicated distribution systems for vital medicines and other social products for remoter places. Yet commercial products get there.
The UK population, meanwhile, have ‘donor fatigue’; the daily death toll from diarrhoea scarcely figures, when we are constantly bombarded by war and disaster appeals. We lose sight of what could be solved or prevented. We risk switching off the interest and creativity of the next generation of designers, thinkers and problem solvers: the social entrepreneurs of the future on a small and finite planet. It is time to share that there are simple ideas, paradigm shifts, ways to do things differently. ColaLife puts that into practice, showing it is possible to create unlikely alliances to alter thinking and action, harnessing changes in corporate responsibility, changes in medical patenting, new media and mobile communications, and ‘carbon footprint’ awareness in transport.
Thanks, Jon, for another bit of real life evidence that we’re on the right track! We will know if we’ve been successful in our bid to UnLtd next week, and the first step will be piloting work in a couple of schools to see where it can enrich the curriculum and turn kids on to what they can do. We really need those resources, UnLtd Judging Panel, so I hope you’re watching!
The Dream Factory Exhibition launches featuring ColaLife
May 21, 2010 by Simon Berry · 1 Comment
Yesterday evening was very special. More than 400 people came through the preview of The Dream Factory Exhibition and Workshops at The Dray Walk Gallery, Brick Lane, London. The exhibition featured the work of ‘Cultural Engineers‘. The interest in ColaLife was huge and inspiring. Those of us staffing the ColaLife exhibit had very tired voices by the end of the evening. A highlight of the evening was meeting Dan - a teacher at Acton School and my daughter’s supervisor - who is interested in being the pilot for the UK-based ColaLife work which will focus on taking the ColaLife idea to young people through Universities and Schools. ColaLife inspires young people and starts conversations around design; global affairs; unlikely partnerships; the use of new media and so on. As reported previously we already have clubs established on three continents. The other side of this coin is that young people are key consumers of Coca-Cola products and the ethical consumers of the future. Their support for ColaLife will help give Coca-Cola the confidence to engage with us even more moving forward.
Below is a slideshow of pictures taken at last night’s launch. The exhibition runs for the next 10 days (until 30 May 2010). A limited edition book has been produced as part of the exhibition and you can enter a draw to win a copy here.
Meet Dennis Tretter - our first ColaLife Intern
May 17, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
As we gear up to move ColaLife into its implementation phase lots of very exciting things are starting to happen and you won’t miss a thing if you register for blog updates.
Here is the first very exciting thing. After a couple of weeks of discussion via various networks ColaLife has its first intern: Dennis Tretter. A very warm welcome on board Dennis. We look forward to working with you. I will let Dennis introduce himself:
Hi, my name is Dennis and I am a student from a small town in Germany called Kaiserslautern (you maybe know it for its famous football team). I have lived for the last 26 years very close to my hometown, but this year I took a step out of my familiar environment which I am enjoying. At the moment I am studying at the Istanbul Technical University and I really enjoy it being far away from home and gain so much new experiences. As I am an industrial engineers student, I think nobody would expect me to apply for an internship at a NGO like ColaLife. Of course, I could have applied for a well paid internship at a big company… but I asked myself, what do I really want. And that is not a ‘normal’ job at some company, no, I wanted to do something useful during my internship. So I applied to big companies but I was always searching for something a bit different, and one day a few weeks ago I found what I was looking for.
I was just surfing around the web and looking for something interesting. Somehow I ended up reading some articles at ‘brand eins Online’, a German magazine. One of their articles - called ‘Das Huckepack-Prinzip’ (the piggy back principle) - had the idea of ColaLife as a topic. I read it, I had a look at the ColaLife homepage and the blog and also looked at the Facebook group. And then I wrote a message to Simon to see if he could use a motivated industrial engineer student as an intern.
To be honest, I didn’t believe for a second that it would really happen. But on the other hand I really hoped that it would work out… and one week later I got a positive reply under the condition that I could raise my own money, because ColaLife doesn’t have any funding yet. I knew that is it possible to get money from the ERASMUS programme for an internship done in the EU, and so I applied for this. At the moment it looks like everything will work out well and so I am really looking forward to my time in Rugby from July to October.
Onwards and upwards!
ColaLife University and School Clubs get underway on three continents
May 15, 2010 by Simon Berry · 1 Comment
Image credits: David Wilcox | Alex Spina and Chris Rhodes
It is very encouraging to see ColaLife Chapters/Clubs starting to form in Universities and Schools around the World. So far we have:
- Wellesley College, US
- La Martiniere School, Calcutta >>Facebook group
- Warwick University, UK >>Facebook group
I also know that there are discussions going on at The Royal Holloway (UK), Hult International Business School (UK) and Nottingham Trent University (UK). If we are successful in a bid for support to UnLtd we will be able to provide resources to enable members of these clubs to go out to schools and spread the word there.
ColaLife inspires young people and helps them see how the skills they have can be applied to solve global challenges. There is still so much to work out to make ColaLife a reality. There are products to design, processes to design, relationships to build and so on. Young people can contribute in all of these areas. AND, at the same time of course, young people are key consumers of Coca-Cola products. They are the ethical consumers of the future. Coca-Cola will be very interested in what they think and what they do.
Hats off to the young people who have set these clubs up and a big thank you to those who have joined them.
Onwards and upwards!
Introducing the Sola Cola Coola (aka the NERRF Project)
May 11, 2010 by Simon Berry · 3 Comments
Image credits: Excelente International Refrigeration
One of the joys of running ColaLife is the great emails and pictures you get. This one came from Excelente International Refrigeration in Mexico. Here it is with my reply (reproduced with permission). I’d love to ride one of these on the sponsored bike ride I am planning for the summer!
Hi Simon,
I ran across your movement while searching out information on how to help impoverished countries and people of the world. What your doing sounds pretty amazing and you have a pretty good pace going on accomplishing it. It is not easy, my hat is off to you.
We are Excelente International Refrigeration located in Mexico. We manufacture refrigerators for much of the worlds beverage and food industry. Freezers too. We are not a huge company, rather small actually, but extremely good in producing great quality, low priced, stylish refrigerators and freezers.
Not too long ago we created and started manufacturing Solar, and Rechargeable Battery Refrigerators and Freezers. We also designed a mobile tricycle which the refrigerators/freezers can sit on to travel anywhere. They are currently being utilized on the streets of a few countries. Little by little the attention is growing about them.
We were thinking though, that they could also be an incredible asset for countries that have no, little or expensive electricity. We read about medicines having no way of keeping cold. Entire villages with no way to refrigerate or freeze food. The list could go on and on as I’m sure you are aware of.
We thought we’d try and help out by letting charitable entities, and people know about our NO ELECTRICITY REQUIRED REFRIGERATOR FREEZER…..NERRF! We named it The NERRF Project.
Well we have encountered so much BS in these groups that it makes us sick that they can be called charities or pretend to be caring human beings. They are neither.
In any event, we thought we’d send you this email and see if this is something you might like to make part of your goals? Or if you have people who might like to know about our refrigerators and freezers? Or anything you can think of…..?
While our NERRF’s aren’t being used in remote areas now, (cities for selling beverages on the street), we’d be willing to design inside them a special compartment for your packages. So in every unit there would be specific room for bottles and specific room with your packages with branding. There are quite a few possibilities.
Here are some pictures so you can see the NERRF Tricycle. It can also be used without the tricycle and the solar panel put on a pole, or the roof, or anywhere it can be in the sun. There is also a battery version where the battery is charged at night and then runs all day long.
I know that they can be very helpful to so so many people who are in such need but we don’t have the expertise to make it happen. We think you do though…….
Thank you,
<name supplied>
Excelente International Refrigeration Corporation
NERRF ProjectEmail: NERRFProject@gmail.com
Our New Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/NERRF-Project/115517591815018
And my reply:
Hi
It was great to get your email this morning. Aside from anything else, I don’t know if you know but I am a bit of a small wheeled cycle enthusiast and so I love your tricycle. We were looking for a tricycle just like that to ride around London to promote ColaLife last summer. Do you have any in London? I’m looking to do a ColaLife sponsored cycle ride across France in the summer and wonder if I could do it on one of your bikes? I have done quite a few long distance bike rides for charity in the past.My partner (in life and ColaLife), Jane, thinks you should change the name of your product though. So it’s not the NERRF, it’s the ‘Sola Cola Coola‘!I would like to feature your email and the pictures on the ColaLife blog if I may.Beyond publicity activities like the bike rides, I’m not sure how much overlap there is in the short term. ColaLife is steering away from cold chain distribution, at least initially, but let’s not lose touch. Let me know if you have any breakthroughs. I blog about ColaLife all the time. To get these by email please subscribe here:Simon
01/05/2010
Win tickets to the Dream Factory exhibition preview
May 9, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
Image courtesy of The Dream Factory. Honda.
On 21 May The Dream Factory Exhibition opens at The Dray Walk Gallery, Brick Lane, London ‘as a tribute to the Cultural Engineers and their inspirational work’.
Top row: Nihal Arthanayake; Simon Berry; Cath Le Couteur; Oliver Hemsley & Katy Dawe; Agents of Change; Pip McKnight & Ian Francis; Kevin Harman;
Bottom row: Dicken Marshall; Bridget Nicholls; Tom Podkolinski; Ben Ramsden; Richard Reynolds; Fabien Riggall; Tina Ziegler
The giant AidPod will be in the exhibition.
On the evening of 20 May, there will an invitation-only preview of the exhibition and the launch of a limited edition book featuring the ‘Cultural engineers’ that have been identified as part of the ‘Dream factory’ project. The ‘Cultural engineers’ above will be at the launch. You can enter a draw for an invitation to the preview here - scroll down to see the draw form. It would be great to see some ColaLife supporters there.
All this activity is around the launch of a new hydrid car - the Honda CR-Z. I’m pretty sure this will feature somewhere in the exhibition too!
Progress Report - 30/4/10
May 2, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
Children of Mikindani, Tanzania with a model Mark III AidPod, January 2009
Image credit: Tim Dench
May 1988 - May 2008 - the first 7,305 days - no progress!
- May 1988 Had the idea while working on the British Aid Programme in NE Zambia that Coca-Cola’s distribution muscle could be used to distribute oral rehydration salts in developing countries
- I tried to promote the idea but made no progress at all!
May 2008 onwards- the last 578 days - real progress!
- 6/5/08 The presence of Coca-Cola’s Chief Executive at the Business Call To Action event re-kindled the idea. I contributed to the online blog saying: What about Coca Cola using their
distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute rehydration salts? Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as ‘the life saving’ compartment?’ (original live blog available here)
- 6/5/08 I decided to blog the idea and then follow-up by trying to get Coca-Cola’s attention. The blog post is here.
- After the blog post I tried to get the idea debated on the BBC Radio 4 iPM programme. I was successful on the 3rd attempt and after getting friends to support the idea on the iPM blog (see below).
- 6-14/5/08 I was in communication with Coca-Cola but could not get past the first line in Coca-Cola’s CSR department
- 16/5/08 Heard Annie Lennox on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. She said We can distribute Coca Cola all around the World but we can’t seem to get medication to save a child from something as simple as diarrhoea and I think that that is wrong. At this point I decided my blog post wasn’t going to be enough! I decided to set up a Facebook group to get people behind the idea.
- 18/5/08 Facebook Group formed.
- 19/5/08 #colalife tag set-up in hastags
- 21/5/08 Interviewed by Eddie Mair for the iPM Programme.
- 21-24/5/08 The iPM Team worked flat-out to create an amazing feature for the programme on 24/5/08 and this paid off handsomely
- 23/5/08 colalife tag establsished in del.icio.us
- 23/5/08 The iPM Team received a Written statement received from Coca Cola - ‘willing to talk’
- 24/5/08 The campaign was featured on iPM (BBC Radio 4)
- 24/5/08 As part of the iPM feature, Eve Graham (ex lead singer - The New Seekers) sang supporting lyrics to ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’.
- 27/5/08 Coca-Cola Reydration Project proposed on RSA Networks (RSA Members only)
- 1/6/08 The colalife ampaign was nominated for the New Media Awards
- 5/6/08 Telephone conference with Coca Cola’s Global Head of Stakeholder Relations and UK conterpart
- 13/6/08 Facebook Group grew from 0 to 2,115 in 26 days. Membership includes a ‘frontline’ Rehydration Project in India
- 16/6/08 Face to face meeting with Coca Cola’s Salvatore Gabola in Brussels.
- 3/7/08 Ran workshop at the 2gether08 Festival
- 3/7/08 Follow-up interview with the iPM Programme (video)
- 6/7/08 Coca-Cola’s Adrian Ristow sent his first diary note from Ethiopia
- 6/7/08 ColaLife Google Group established
- 6-20/7/08 Facebook bug did not allow Kate Andrews to be added as group administrator - Facebook Support contacted
- 13/7/08 Simon Berry interviewed on the BBC World Service
- 17/7/08 Progress Report (6th Facebook Newsletter) >>more
- 21/7/08 Kate Andrews became Admin of the Facebook Group (group size: 3,400)
- 29/7/08 Kate’s article published on Inhabitat.com
- Inhabitat article starts an avalanche of other artcles including on treehugger, trendhunter and many more.
- 3/8/08 ColaLife Flickr Group established
- 3/8/08 colalife.org domain name purchased
- 3/8/08 Aims & objectives finalised through Google Group
- 4/8/08 Colalife website and dedicated blog built by Facebook Group member Dave Briggs.
- 6/8/08 Facebook Group membership hits 4,000
- 14/8/08 First face-to-face meet-up of the ColaLife Group
- 20/8/08 Meeting with James Alexander, CEO, We Are What We Do
- 21/8/08 Interviewed for Common Ground Magazine (US) - feature to be published on 1/10/08
- 21/8/08 Responded to questions from El Mercurio, Chile
- 27/8/08 Facebook Group membership hits 5,000, Google group has 55 members, Flickr Group has 256 members
- 27/8/08 Progress Report >>more
- 31/8/08 Article published in the Sunday edition of El Mercurio, Chile. This is the first the ColaLife story has been printed on paper. >>more
- 1/9/08 ColaLife banner ads made available. >>more
- 8/9/08 Facebook group hits 5,500 - the number of children under the age of 5 that die each day in Africa. >>more
- 12/9/08 ColaLife ‘Buzz Monitor’ created using Pageflakes. >>more
- 15/9/08 talkSPORT interview. >>more
- 20/9/08 Excellent ‘Before and After’ ORS pictures found. >>more
- 4/10/08 ColaLife featured as a case study at ‘Social Activism Online’ conference. >>more
- 18/10/08 ColaLife press page created >>more
- 19/10/08 ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 published on YouTube. View the video on YouTube.
- 19/10/08 Application submitted to Google’s Project 10^100. >>more
- 25/10/08 Kate Andrews writes ColaLife Wikipedia Entry.
- 25/10/08 Coca-Cola invites ColaLife to Dar Es Salaam! >>more
- 1/11/08 Progress Report >>more
- 6/11/08 ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 made available for the iPod >>more
- 10/11/08 Skype call with ColaLife mentor Tielmann Nieuwoudt
- 15/11/08 Jess ponsford submits innovation ‘ColaLife Pod’ design ideas >>more
- 18/11/08 Facebook Group membership hit 7,000
- 20/11/08 BBC to cover the Tanzania Trip >>more
- 20/10/08 ColaLife case study presented at NCVO’s Collaboration conference
- 24/11/08 ColaLife plenary presentation at NCVO’s Info 2.0 conference >>more
- 24/11/08 Views of ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 hit 3,000
- 25/11/08 Kate Andrews presented ColaLife as a case study at KHiO, Oslo
National Academy of the Arts >>more
- 25-29/11/08 Simon Berry in Tanzania at the invitation of Coca-Cola >>more
- 25/11/08 Field trip to Manual Distribution Centres (MDCs) in Dar Es Salaam >>more
- 26/11/08 Stakeholder meeting convened by Coca-Cola in Dar Es Salaam
- 26/11/08 Made prototype ‘ColaLife Pods’ >>more
- 27/11/08 Field trip with Benito Xaverly - ‘ColaLife Pods’ discussed on video >>more
- 28/11/08 Met with Dr Jane Miller, PSI, Dar Es Salaam. PSI are potential partners in the trialing of the ColaLife idea >>more
- 4/12/08 interviewed by Nigel Courtney for NESTA Innovation Handbook
- 5/12/08 Live interview on newstalk Radio, Ireland’s national talk radio station >>more
- 6/12/08 Progress Report >>more
- 13/12/08 ColaLife aims and objectives formally reviewed and re-stated based on the learning so far and informed particularly by the trip to Dar Es Salaam. The AidPod moves centre stage.
- 16/12/08 Face to face meeting at Global Tolerance HQ >>more
- 27/12/08 BBC iPM ‘Best of Year’ feature broadcast >>listen
- aidpod domain names registered >>more
- Introduced by Kate Andrews to David Berman the author of Do Good Design >>more
- 8,000th member joins ColaLife Facebook group >>more NOTE: we are now encouraging people to join our Facebook page
- 24/1/09 AidPod ideas explored >>more
- 21/2/09 ColaLife Twitter background released >>more
- 4/3/09 Mark II of the AidPod revealed at face to face meeting at Global Tolerance HQ >>more
- 8/3/09 Supporters encouraged to make their own aidpods - patterns released >>more
- 11/3/09 ColaLife’s Simon Berry is second blogger to be confirmed for the G20 Summit >>more The G20-specific blog posts are here
- 18/3/09 Simon Berry featured in ‘Social Pioneers’ supplement in the Guardian >>more
- 25/3/09 The children of N’gombe Compound, Lusaka celebrate the aidpod >>more
- 28/3/09 Dame Barbara Stocking (Director, Oxfam GB) gives her verdict on the aidpod >>more
- 5/4/09 Bob Geldof talks to Simon Berry about the aidpod >>more
- 8/4/09 theWorkshop in Sheffield build a giant aippod >>more
- 25/4/09 Coca-Cola commit to ColaLife trials in Radio 4 interview >>listen
- 25/4/09 ColaLife, ’story so far’ presentation at ‘Africa Gathering’ >>watch
- 6/5/09 ColaLife’s first birthday
- 17/5/09 ColaLife featured in HARVARD report >>more
- 11/6/09 Giant aidpod installed at NESTA, the UK’s Innovation Centre >>more
- 12/6/09 Prof Don Nutbeam endorses ColaLife in televised panel discussion on global public health >>more
- 17/6/09 Mark III of the aidpod unveiled >>watch >>slideshow
- 24/6/09 ColaLife to play Glastonbury >>more
- 1/7/09 Mayor of London says ‘No’ to ColaLife giant aidpod on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square >>more
- 5/7/09 Russell Tanner dedicates his spot on the 4th Plinth to ColaLife >>more
- 7/7/09 ColaLife headlines in NESTA handbook on social innovation >>more
- 11/7/09 Twitter campaign for plinth appearance starts >>more
- 14/7/09 Sarah Brown (the UK Prime Minister’s wife) tweets for ColaLife! >>more
- 18/7/09 Russell Tanner promotes ColaLife on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square >>watch
- 4/8/09 ColaLife brokers partnership with global NGO for Tanzanian field work >>more
- 5/8/09 ColaLife balloon release >>watch
- 15/8/09 An assessment of where we are with Coca-Cola >>more
- 26/8/09 Progress report >>more
- 19/8/09 ColaLife is incorporated >>more
- 24/9/09 Google back off from Project 10 to the 100th (very disappointing) >>more
- 10/10/09 Giant ColaLife AidPod displayed at the Africa Gathering event >>more
- 14/10/09 WHO/UNICEF Report published: Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done >>more
- 18/10/09 ColaLife makes the GOOD 100 List >>more
- 27/10/09 ColaLife presented at the 8th Annual World Food and Innovation Conference, Rotterdam >>more
- 31/10/09 ColaLife enters the Buckminster Fuller Challenge >>more
- 4/11/09 ColaLife presented at the inaugural TEDx London event >>more
- 12/11/09 Keynote presentation at Chain Reaction 2009 >>more
- 13/11/09 AidPod Mark III animation released >>more
- 14/11/09 ColaLife Channel launched on YouTube - youtube.com/colalife - >>more
- 16/11/09 The ColaLife animation reaches 10,000 views >>more
- 27/11/09 ColaLife gets through to stage 2 of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge (35 of 215 entries have made it this far) >>more
- 7/12/09 Giant AidPod display installed at the RSA, London >>more
- 12/12/09 ColaLife Development Plan published >>more
- 30/12/09 Progress report >>more
- 31/12/09 Top 10 achievements for 2009 published >>more
- 10/1/10 A to Z of priorities for 2010 listed >>more
- 17/1/10 New online campaigning handbook features ColaLife as case study >>more
- 27/1/10 Video of the presentation of ColaLife at the inaugural TEDx London published >>more
- 31/1/10 Series on Colalife principles started >>more
- 15/2/10 ColaLife featured by Sarah Boseley in the Guardian >>more
- 17/2/10 ColaLife is through to the semi-finals of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge >>more
- 21/2/10 ColaLife selected for TEDx Warwick >>more
- 22/2/10 ColaLife live on CNN >>more
- 11/3/10 Prof Don Nutbeam commits to be the first member of ColaLife’s Virtual Advisory Board >>more
- 17/3/10 Question and answer session at Hult International Business School >>more
- 12/4/10 Simon Berry to feature as a ‘Cultural Engineer’ in a book to accompany the launch of a hybrid car by Honda >>more
- 22/4/10 ColaLife featured as a case study on new book on ‘Ethical Marketing & The New Consumer’ >>more
- 30/4/10 Progress report (this one)
Next moves
- Simon Berry will give up his day job in June 2010 to work full time on ColaLife
- Fund raising has begun to raise funds to proptotype, manufacture and test the aidpod and the ColaLife concept
- Undertake pre-trial fieldwork to build partnerships for an independently evaluated trial of ColaLife
- Encourage and support the engagement of young people with ColaLife through work with Universities and Schools
- On-going PR campaign to ensure support groups continue to grow
5,500 children die every day in Africa before the age of 5. This initiative could save thousands and thousands of children’s lives through positive engagement between the private and NGO sector.
How are you going to buy food?
May 1, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
Food parcel distribution. Image credit: British Red Cross
As the day approaches when I give up my day job (4/6/10) to concentrate full-time on ColaLife the excitement is building but this comes with a degree of anxiety especially among family members. Jane, my partner in life and ColaLife, is channelling her anxiety into researching and applying for appropriate funding to get us underway - so she’s effectively full-time already.
We had a set back this week when we heard that ColaLife did not make it from a semi-finalist to a finalist in the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge (BFC). JenJoy at the BFC broke the news gently saying:
While your project was not selected, the jury was quite impressed with your work and all of the semi-finalists and we wish we had the resources to award prizes to everyone. Getting this far is no small feat! If there is anything we can do to help you further your work outside of direct financial support, please let us know.
So we will be following that up and wish all the finalists the best of luck. But, on the very bright side we have also just heard that we are through to the final interview stage for a ‘Level 2 UnLtd Award’. We’ve applied jointly and if we are successful this will give us £15,000 towards our living expenses to help us get the next phase, the implementation phase, of ColaLife off the ground.
So, Mum, in answer to your question, ‘How are you going to buy food?’, I’m not quite sure but the UnLtd thing looks quite promising! Oh, and if that fails I’ve just had reassurance from a friend collecting for Children in Need that the neighbours will bring some around.
What others are saying about ColaLife- ColaLife on Flickr
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