Participation Ride Blog launched
August 25, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
First of all, a big thank you is due to all of you who put your hands in your pockets and sponsored me and the three other riders. I have now hit my target so a trip to one of the African countries we have been researching like mad is now on the cards for the autumn. We are now in communication with key local partners. We hope to be able to announce the country and dates for fieldwork very shortly.
Regarding the cycle ride, I intend to be blogging from the saddle, WiFi permitting, and I have a clever device which will be sending my location to a Google Map in near real time (via satellite). So you’ll be able to share in some of the excitement with none of the pain! The live map is here. However, I thought it wise to spare all ColaLife supporters all the detail of the ride and so I’ve set up another blog to carry the story of the ride for those who are interested. The url of The Participation Ride Blog is: http://aidpod.org (for obvious reasons).
Onwards and upwards!
Fundraising for fieldwork - help create the Sprat . .
August 11, 2010 by Simon Berry · Leave a Comment
. . . to catch the Mackerel.
For the first time since the start to the ColaLife campaign two years ago I am asking supporters to put their hands in their pockets to help us move to the next phase - fieldwork that will lead to the trial of the idea in Africa. In July we were shortlisted for an award from the Clinton Foundation but, in the final analysis, we were not successful. This tells me three things:
- We will get serious funding to implement a trial of the ColaLife one day
- We need build on the desk research and communications work we are doing by visiting the country of the trial and getting some face time with the key players
- We need to work with these key players to co-design the trial and then take the plan to the likes of the Clinton Foundation for funding
On 4 September three of us are cycling from Boulogne to Biarritz to raise the money to fund this fieldwork. The cycling is an awareness raiser, a device to get people’s attention but all the riders are funding all their own expenses so that 100% of all donations will go to ColaLife. The money raised will fund the fieldwork which will produce the plan for the trial which will be put to the likes of the Clinton Foundation and Coca-Cola for funding. Your donation will have a multiplier effect. It will fund the creation of the trial plan. It will be the Sprat to catch the Mackerel.
PLEASE SUPPORT US in this. You can donate here. And this is why we need your support.
Your donation won’t be the end of it . . . you will be able to follow the progress of the ride live online. Our location will be updated every ten minutes or so to an online map throughout the journey. I will also be blogging from the saddle. So you’ll be able to join in the fun with none of the pain! Links to follow.
The riders
Kiefer (17), Nigel (50-ish) and Simon (me) (the oldest by some way)
The ride
Indicative route only at this stage. Image courtesy of Google Maps
ColaLife is recruiting . . . cyclists
June 15, 2010 by Simon Berry · 2 Comments
Indicative route only at this stage. Image courtesy of Google Maps
The ColaLife Participation Ride 2010
My old friend, Nigel Bolding, and I are looking for three others to join us on a ride across France to raise money towards the costs of the fieldwork that we need to carry out to plan the independently evaluated trial of ColaLife*. We aim to raise £10,000 between us and we are looking for a philanthropist to match this amount. Are you that philanthropist?
If you’d like to be one of the riders please comment on this blog post or contact me directly at simon[at]colalife.org or on +44 (0)7932 107109.
Basic facts about the ride:
Dates: 4/9/10 to 12/9/10
From: Boulogne
To: Biarritz
Approximate distance: 1035km (650 miles)
Cycling days: 8
* For more details of how this fits in with our current workstreams please see this post: Kicking of Phase 2 of ColaLife.
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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