Wilderness

Ok so here we are in July over half way through the year and I am grasping at straws to title these darn blog entries. So I thought what I would do is use the title of the Locked On radio shows to somehow express and explore how the project has been going each month. It means A] I do not have to think and B] I have a good excuse to do this......................................................................

Wilderness by lockedonradio

each month and try and get a few more of you listening to the show. The Locked On pages are a fairly new thing so it seems sensible to not just point you in the direction but to hammer home the point.

So now I have a title for this months entry, I guess I best tell you all how it has any spurious connection to how I feel at the helm of Camden Calling this month. At the end of last month I was certainly all guns blazing and really starting to feel that familiar make or break sensation that I have a kind of love hate relationship with; that when I am cold and honest I realise is a love hate relationship with Camden Calling itself and signifies that it is time I took a break before I burn out. It means there has been a surge in energy and the batteries need recharging if we are to continue at the new pace.

So that is exactly what I did 5 days camping in the Kent countryside with little more in terms of modern conveniences that a flushing toilet some minutes walk away, my trustee coffee pot and a couple of old saucepans. Phones were turned off and the world as I know it shut out for the duration. So I return this week somewhat more relaxed emerging calm from a physical wilderness ready to take on the fact that the Camden Calling project seems at last to emerging from its wilderness too. That there are plans afoot that I have responsibility for bringing to fruition and that I need to keep taking the bull by the horns if the members of Camden Calling are going to continue to benefit from the project.

One such plan is the conversion of Camden Calling from a social enterprise to a registered charity. This has been something that I have been working on for a few months now and it would seem that this is at last starting to come together, we have a board of trustees now in place and the paperwork minefield is now ready to be negociated. We may of course get a knock back on this but if there is one thing I am known for it is bouncing back for more. So, lets get cracking and see what happens. I am also very happy to announce that we now have a patron on board!

Peter Guinness has agreed to help promote the work of Camden Calling. We are really happy to have him on board and the team are very much looking forward to meeting him to personally say thank you.

I would also like to say a massive thanks this month to Camden Lock Market who have made us most welcome on a Friday. It is really wonderful to have the support of the market in helping us to get our name and our merchandise out there. Shouts out to the lovely couple from Oslo who purchased hoodies last week, I hope you found a squat in the end.

So until next month my head is going to be buried in some funding applications I will be sourcing maggots fake blood and rotten meat, [don't ask] as well as trying to work out what in God's name I am gonna say if the next four weeks do not reflect a bit of happiness.