Logo on the way and funding bid coming along

Holrick Rodgers, our pro bono marketing man and Olwyn Rutter (joining us from across the pond in Canada) are getting to work on a new logo for Abene Karantaa. Working on the brief from Holrick has really focused me mind as to where we are going and the image we should portray; as well as who we should target. A good experience. It's an exciting project and I can't wait to see what both teams come up with.

A rap on the knuckles for me this morning for not cc-ing Rachel in to the emails that have put Holrick and Olwyn in touch. Three heads will hopefully be even better than two!

Rachel is putting up an advert of our imminent fundraiser garage sale (on Sunday 16th - see www.abenekarantaa.org/garagesale on Facebook as we speak. And on Gumtree too. She'll be helping me manage the swathes of supporters eager to support us in exchange for a silk cushion or coffee table book.

I'm working hard this morning on putting together a funding bid for a trust that I hope will be supporting us in the future and playing a key part in the success of the projects. Following my meeting with the Chief Executive of Beatbullying on Tuesday, I am incorporating lots of good points she raised.

Wish us luck!

Action Planning, painting and marketing

So many meetings yesterday- all very useful. Started the day with Emma-Jane Cross, Chief Executive of Beatbullying, who shared her experiences of starting up a charity from scratch. BB have since won lots of charity awards and are getting bigger and bigger. She gave me the benefit of her wisdom with 3 golden pearls of advice - what she wish she had known before. 1. The benefit of getting a fundraiser on board early on - even a fundraiser on commission. 2. Get a good mentor from the start. And 3. Create a 3-year plan.

In the second meeting of the day I secured pro-bono marketing work from Holrick Rodgers. Many thanks to him for his collaboration with us. Although he will take a global look at the organisation and put together a full marketing plan, the priorities are to make the most of our imminently getting our company registration number by preparing a logo, business cards and letterheads. Watch this space to see what comes next.

The rest of the I spent gloss painting my mum's windows, until 11pm no less. She wanted me to 'prioritise' the painting, so I had to squeeze it all in. Now we're working on choosing colours for the walls. It's never ending, but at least is a diversion from the phone and laptop.

It's full steam ahead for the garage sale we're having this Sunday in West Dulwich, SE21. All proceeds going to Abene Karantaa. I've been out delivering a flyer on it this morning in Dulwich village and got good feedback from the people I spoke to in the street. I hope to get a good turn out on the day. We'll see what the weather is like - fingers crossed.

I'm dashing out the house now for a friend's leaving do.