May 24 2010
Touchwood pilot projects
Note: This is an older post I’m updating and re-posting because we decided to run the pilots this summer instead of last winter in 2009.
One of the challenges in starting up a social enterprise is actually having something to show for months’ worth of effort. Since an eco-lodge will take some time to build, not to mention write a business plan, do a feasibility study, and consult with the community, we needed to find ways of getting started NOW. So we’re building on the success we had with the StrengthsFinder pilot projects and running at least 3 more in 2010.
Here’s what we’re planning to do…
A mobile classroom
First up: a ‘mobile classroom.’ We’ve bought be a canvas tentipi like the one in this picture and are furnishing it with a stove and lovely fleeces, sheepskins and comfy chairs.
A tentipi offers shelter and warmth while still connected to the outdoors
These two photos here — from the Beautiful World Tents website — show how it could work.
Inside the tentipi with an open fire
The challenge of the Orkney (Scottish, British) climate is that it’s usually too cold or possibly rainy to contemplate doing something like a craft activity outside. On the other hand, we don’t want to go the route of being indoors in a community centre.
Tentipis are a modern update of the traditional tents used by the Sami. They look like tipis, but have a few cool features — like the ability to roll up the sides to open out the view.
Our plan is to kit them out beautifully and cosily, but still be able to take them around Orkney, including the more remote islands like Sanday, Eday, Shapinsay and Westray. We also plan to have a number of craft courses that will help furnish the interior with handmade rugs and fleeces.
Beauty, craftsmanship and eco-friendliness are core to what we want to do.
On to the courses…
Crafts and outdoor pilot projects
Bit Better Project
This project is all about living by the principle: ‘Leave it a little better than you find it’. Going beyond Leave No Trace, we’ll work with farmers and local walkers to make the countryside through which they are travelling a ‘bit better’. It includes going out into the countryside with tools to make improvements to fences, waterlogged land, and other problems.
Upcycle Your Clothing
Not just recycling or reusing clothes you would otherwise donate or bin, but ‘upcycling’ to create something new, beautiful and wearable. Includes gathering local natural materials from outdoors, such as shells, stones and fibrous plants. Hip sewing courses delivered by a young, local designer called Kirsteen Stewart. I just took her dressmaking class and it was brilliant. We’re thinking one of the courses we’ll offer will be a ‘Knockout Knickers’ class where we make our own gorgeous underwear. Yee haw!
Kids Bushcraft
Hands-on sessions for kids in building shelters from heather, making fire safely, and navigating and walking outdoors via Treasure Hunts. This one is about rethinking what a ‘weed’ is and appreciate traditional skills and the natural environment.
Why pilot projects?
Well for one thing, we don’t actually have a place. We’re still mostly a lot of good ideas, a growing network of people, and lots of paperwork. So running this as a full-on enterprise just isn’t feasible.
But I also don’t want to fall into the trap of working for months, even years, on the Touchwood Project and not actually have something tangible to show for it. Too many projects I’ve heard about lurch from year to year, snapping at funding, beleaguered by internal politics and strife, and resulting in little more than lots of strategy documents and a logo. While I don’t think that will happen to us, we all want to make things happen as fast as possible.
Other benefits of doing a pilot:
- Work out logistics and get courses right for future rollout
- Get training for local people to deliver courses to highest standard
- Build ties to existing organisations and businesses on Orkney to co-offer courses
- Build awareness of Touchwood Project within larger community
Where we’re at now
Update: We’re running these three pilot projects now and through July, both on the mainland of Orkney and on outer islands like Sanday and Hoy. More details of dates and times to come.
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Ok, a tentipi is next on my “Must Have That!” list!!!
Michelle Spence hopes you will read blog ..Interesting Orkney Website…
Hiya – We couldn’t help noticing the mention of us on the other page, thanks for that! As you’ve been on your web site, you probably know that we already offer a very popular workshop called Knockout Knickers that we have been running since we launched in 2007. Your class sounds great but it would be wonderful if you could name it something different to avoid confusion.:) Cheers!
Don’t worry, we’ve decided not to run this course after all — too difficult to do without sewing machines, for one. If we do ever decide to run one, we’ll change the name, though I doubt you’ll have too many people who would know of both our classes since we’re pretty far away from you
[...] week we finished our pilot projects, a Kids Bushcraft course and the Reinvention Sewing Lounge. We decided to experiment further by [...]