Somewhere a clock is ticking....

….and that place is right here: we should hear about our pivotal funding within the next 24 hours!  I am not saying pivotal merely to be prosaic, we will have to rethink pretty much everything if it doesn’t come in.  Partially because we have been awarded funds from another body on the proviso that we get significant financial backing from somewhere else too and partly because neither of us has a spare £8,000 under the bed, who does?!  My chest feels tight just thinking about it!

That said, Filling the Gap N15 will re-open on September 28^th, come what may.  Even if it’s with the same bare bones of equipment that we ran the pilot with and even if we have to operate on a café to café basis; Renee and I will be there serving the healthy, affordable food you love, with a smile.

If that’s just too darn long to wait, you could always visit us at Capel Manor for the City Harvest Festival on Saturday September 22^nd from 10am to 4pm.  Renee will be serving some delicious local, organic sausages with flat breads and salad and I’ll be rustling up some home-made cakey delights too.  It’s a very family friendly affair, so bring the kids to meet the animals and join in the fun.  Some friends of ours, Norman Loves Soup, will be there too, serving yummy vegan fare.  Hope you can make it.

On a slightly lighter note, hope you all had lovely summers.  Renee had fabulous weather in France, whilst my tent partially blew down in Devon!  Fortunately the local Cider and ruby red steak made up for it!  I mustn’t moan, I love the west county and we had tons of fun exploring beaches and rock pools during our week on Cornwall.  We didn’t camp for long and I’m not sure I ever will again.  The site and tent were lovely, but 4 days of being cold is more than I can stand.  Yes, I am a wuss who likes dry clothes and walls and roofs that are made of bricks!  Maybe I’ve just been living in the city too long, nah, not possible, I love it here.  Oh and thank you, Snow Patrol for the title!

Stumbling blocks or chances to climb?

This is my attempt at optimism, being Eeyore not Tigger, it’s not my natural state.   So, the initial grant application did not come through.  Blast and botheration!  The reason was microscopic, but undeniable, so we have made changes and resubmitted.  Although that might not seem like too much of a stumbling block, it does rather delay everything we want and had planned to do in the autumn.  Also, having been knocked back once, our confidence has taken a bit of a hit and we are reluctant to set anything in stone without the assurance that cash is coming.  Having no funds is less of a stumbling block and more of a giant boulder.

Which is where my second metaphor, and hopefully the old Scottish stubbornness, kick in.  Faced with the decision to carry on with the café and food festival come autumn, or to sit, wait and circle the drain of despair, Filling the Gap N15 has decided to take the high road, ‘climb every mountain’ and use this giant sized boulder in our way as an opportunity to climb.  In other words, we’re going to do it anyway – so there!  The tiny profit we had accrued from the pilots will serve to facilitate the food festival and we will just have to open the café in September with nothing but loyal customers and a keen sense of willingness.  Certainly, the much desired equipment and big party (can’t really call it a grand opening event anymore, but we will celebrate) will have to wait, but we have coped up until now and we will prevail.  The café and business mean too much to us to cave in at this latest and largest of hurdles, even if it is a huge one.  If it doesn’t work, then at least we’ll know we went down fighting.  Yet at the heart of it all, we still truly believe that it can and it will.  This will be enough to drive us one and I am eternally grateful that our families aren’t entirely financially reliant on us yet.  That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger!