Friday, 15 February 2013

Congratulations to Jill Carter

Many Dig In volunteers will already know Jill Carter of Pulp Friction fame. Jill has assisted in many of our events with the catering and running a Smoothie Bar. Pulp Friction also manage a dedicated fruit cage area on the allotment to supply ingredients for their wonderful smoothies.

To cut a story short, on behalf of Dig In, I would like to congratulate Jill on receiving an award of £10,000 to support her Pulp Friction Travellin' Kitchen project after being crowned Britain’s Top Real Role Model by global direct selling company Amway UK. Well done Jill!!


BUDDING ENTREPRENEUR IS ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS WITH £10,000 DONATION FROM AMWAY UK  
Britain’s Top Real Role Model 2012 Is Revealed

Social entrepreneur Jill Carter has been crowned Britain’s Top Real Role Model by global direct selling company Amway UK. Now in its second year, the campaign aimed to uncover the nation’s real role models and provide invaluable support for business start-ups, awarding £10,000 to the winner to help them begin their own social enterprise business. Jill will also receive mentoring sessions by judges and award-winning entrepreneurs, Jo Fairley and last year’s winner, Melanie Bryan OBE.  
Jill beat numerous entrants across the UK to the coveted title. Her proposed business idea, Pulp Friction Travellin’ Kitchen, is a social initiative which works alongside young adults with learning difficulties to run a mobile catering business that will operate at community events, farmers markets, parties, weddings and festivals throughout the UK. Alongside offering on the job training and personal support, the scheme will also deliver cookery classes for young people aged 14-19 using the ‘Let’s Get Cooking’ programme, supported by the Children’s Food Trust.  

Pulp Friction was originally set up as a youth project in 2009 to give young disabled adults the chance to develop independence, social and work readiness skills by running pedal-powered smoothie bars at different community events. This proved so popular that in January 2011, Jill took voluntary redundancy from her career to set up Pulp Friction as a social enterprise.  

Jill says of winning this year’s campaign: “I am so thrilled to have won Britain’s Top Real Role Model 2012. I feel passionate about supporting my local community and helping young adults with learning difficulties to gain a level of independence and work skills, and the money donated by Amway will make such a huge difference in getting my initiative up and running and a real success. It’s an incredible opportunity!”
Sheryl Franklin-Worth, Corporate Affairs Manager at Amway UK says: “I have been overwhelmed by some of the truly inspirational initiatives that have been put forward for this campaign; however Jill’s community project really impressed all the judges. The initiative really reflects Amway's values for helping disadvantaged children and is a grass roots community enterprise that will impact positively and truly inspire others. A worthy winner indeed.”

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Eco-loo Update 2

Many thanks to Helen for the latest eco-loo update photos. Significant progress has been made and I'm happy to report that we now have a roof, floor and four walls. 

Tim and James have also set aside some dates to involve Dig In volunteers with some of the construction and associated landscaping and we are all crossing our legs for completion and official opening of the facility in the next few weeks.