A pleasant and fruitful weekend was had with the younger brother in Bristol. We continued the wittering which we started on our wet walk in the woods at Christmas. This time it was under clear blue skies with sharp winter sun and crisp air.
He’s doing a brilliant course about permaculture which lasts all year. He showed me some of the spaces and faces associated with his course around and about the part of Bristol where he lives. We saw some of the saplings he planted. https://www.shiftbristol.org.uk
We adjourned to a café for food and warmth and talk about forest gardening. We eat delicious food. https://www.estekitchen.com
We adjourned further to a pub for more chatting and played a great homemade card game.
An all-time record of 13 layers drew over a pair of girl children bored of sitting at a table with their adults. They had a go and managed a respectable 6 layers. Not bad for the ‘new to the game’ 7 year olds.
The offspring return and the following day I take my life in the boy child’s hands. He drives me round local supermarket car parks, practising driving test manoeuvres. No one died. I write a proposal for an outdoor project for a meeting next week. And I visit a new woodland to see whether it could be used for the project.
I arrange a meeting with the sister about forming a Community Interest Company. It seems to be a good model and framework for the work in the woods.
A community interest company is a business with primary social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.
There are lots of forms and information to read and notes to write https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-interest-companies-how-to-form-a-cic
But as my small people told me, I’m a grown up now, so I can at least try.