Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Bridge over the River Wye

Cycle Hereford are an organisation who promote cycling in Hereford.


I have been in touch with them today and they are understandably keen about what we are doing: ‘Whoa! Bolt from the blue - great stuff - 110% support from us here at cyclehereford.com.’ More of this to come soon but as a friend of Pedicabs I’m sure together we will be able to raise the profile of sustainable travel.


They are also promoting a link to sustrans who are aiming to get funding for a cycle bridge over the river Wye:

‘Hi, Great news for the cycling public of Hereford. SUSTRANS, who build national strategic cycle routes are bidding for lottery money to build a cycle bridge over the river Wye to connect Rotherwas to the north of the city, and as this has been a very long held desire (decades), we at Cycle Hereford are contacting as many people as possible to ask you to please support this initiative. The more individual votes this project gets, the more likely it is to go into the final round and win funding.’
The link can be found by clicking here


If you think it is worthwhile, we do, vote.


Enjoy the rest of your day, Will

Another fine meeting

Just a quick blog guys and girls to let you know that I had a meeting with Dave Tristram, Regeneration Officer and Pat Buchanan Community Finance Officer.


It’s not the first time I had met Dave, you may remember him from earlier blogs. The meeting was to establish if we are eligible for any business start up help, the consensus is that we are and that more so there may be other small grants available to help us provide the service we have planned to roll out and to get up and running.


WE DO NOT WISH TO BE GRANT DEPENDANT!! It is possible we believe to be sustainable through delivering our service and though incentivised advertising on the bikes with combined promotions. It is really important to us that we achieve what we set out to achieve. Lots of companies are scared of having to be sustainable or believe that it isn’t possible. Not us! We want to look back in a few years and prove that not only could we provide our service but people wanted it, it was fun and it paid for itself!


A tall order you may think? Well we shall see, but with all of the help we have had so far and the wave of positivity Hereford Pedicabs rides we are sure it is possible!


Will

Friday, January 26, 2007

Almost there...


Well another week, and no bank account, the forms have gone, everything filled out. Abbey National should be a good bank to go with, no charges you see. It's just we have a problem, we cant buy anything for Hereford Pedicabs until the bank account clears!!


I had a call from the guys making the pedicabs to tell us that our bikes are as far as hey can take them without getting any cash and they have other orders coming in. There modular you see, so if they get an order for a few other types of bikes they can use the frame they have made for us to make the other bikes. What we have to be careful of is nobody having our bikes because we cant get the money to the guys making the pedicabs!!


Oh well... hopefully not long now!! I'm moving house this weekend but if there is any news I will keep you posted!


Have a great weekend!


Will

Thursday, January 25, 2007

What we like to call a comfortable 60 inches!

Hello Team!

It’s been some time since our last blog and for that we only have apologies… however.. we have got an awful lot done!!


We have, or will have very shortly, an office and workshop, a company bank account, a coporate image (logo) and a whole host of other stuff. We’ve been good though and taken lots of photos on the way so we can keep you posted. Probably best to begin the weekend before last..


As you know Ben and I are busy chaps, we both have hectic jobs and lifestyles which lead us all over and enable us to do lots of cool things with lots of cool people. It does however make setting up a business together mighty hard, there are forms we have to fill in together, people to meet together and plenty of things to do. This means that we work to dedicated job sheets which we draw up when we can. These always go to pot and are hugely jeopardised by crack pot ideas. Most things though work out alright.


So the weekend before last Ben and I both managed to get together to do a final anaylis of rights of way, we spent a morning with a tape measure checking the things the cabs will fit through and the things they wont fit through. We did however get slightly way layed as Hereford is in flood. Well, we had to ride through the flood didn’t we! Some people had not been so lucky, one chap even got his camper van stuck in three feet of water and lots of trees had come down! We had lots of fun though, on the bikes. The cabs need a four foot gap to fit through and we found a couple of places that they wouldn’t fit but nothing to jeopardise our plans. What we came to look for was something called- the perfect 60- a 60 inch gap, more than enough to take at speed!
Our journey took us all over Hereford and we stopped for lunch in a pub. Where Jo met us and gave us a present for the cabs- fleecy blankets! So you all have Jo to thank when your tucked up and cosy on the back of the Pedicabs! Jo left us and we bumped into Rob had a beer and mulled things over. Things were feeling good!!


I know I always say it but this project has amazed me, the love people have for it, the fun it brings to people we tell about it and the thought in ourselves that people are going to really enjoy using the Pedicabs. For some time we have been looking at a solution for the storage and office locations of Hereford Pedicabs, you may remember in a previous blogs our thought about converting a shipping container? You may also remember a contact at Bulmers.. a one Mr Ben Botwright? Well after a combination of perseverance, velvet tounges , enthusiasm and Bulmers being a bunch of damn nice guys Hereford Pedicabs managed to secure a meeting. So off I went to have a chat to see if they could help us.


Ben Botwright, the project engineering manager and Richard Heathcote, sustainable development manager, spent some time listening to the presentation and chatting about what we need, then something amazing happened. They not only made a proposition, they asked what Hfd Pedicabs needed. Well I didn’t hold back and as a result of them listening and the mutal benefit for all involved we now have lots of great things!


Bulmers agreed to donate a shipping container, help us kit it out with office equipment, place it on part of their site near a cycle path, run electricity in to it, provide our signage and help us with a million and one other things, and all for FREE! WHAT A RESULT, THANK YOU BULMERS!!!Then I got to see the container, and a beauty she was (she’ll be yellow soon). After that a little tour of Bulmers and a chance to meet a few of the guys that will be helping out move the container and all. So there we had it, everything from our initial list of objectives achieved and all because of what we like to call positive association, we all have something to gain from this initiative and that’s what a lot of its about for us. People seeing that they can do their bit and that by doing that bit they have the right to feel good about themselves!


So we are in an amazing place, we are just waiting for the cabs to arrive, that’s a little story in itself (in a bit, be patient). We have everything in place, licensing, an office, storage, a company and now… even a logo!


There are a few other things to add. We are waiting for our bank account to come through, until then we cant put any money in, which means we cant pay for anything which means that the Pedicabs are waiting half finished for our deposit to arrive! This is the frustrating bit, we have the money, we have the infrastructure, we almost have the Pedicabs! We just don’t have the bank!! AAAGGGHH


But other things keep us going, like the folk at
Howies who are going to be helping us with our uniform so its all eco friendly (and its lovely kit!), like the folk at Bulmers, who believe in what we are doing, like all the people at the council who took time to listen and help, like all of the people who laugh and listen to what we have to say in the pub on the street and at meetings, like the people who comment on the blog, people like you, yes you mr or mrs reader. It’s people like you who are keeping this going, who continue to reinforce in us we are doing the right thing. Without you it just wouldn’t be as much fun!! So please keep watching the blog. We think we’ll have the cabs running in March! So we will be having a launch party, you are all of course invited! In the mean time, you all keep being you and we’ll keep on doing our best to get this show well and truly ON THE ROAD!!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Hello to Lynn

A big hello to Lynn who is looking at this all the way from New Zealand!

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

‘Little big voice lectures'

Hello all,

We have put Hereford Pedicabs forward to hopefully be involved in a project which brings small companies together to help them learn how to make an impact on the world. There called ‘Little big voice lectures'.



Organisations that go get to learn lots of things. Like how to build a cheap website and get it up and running. How to take a photo that a newspaper would be interested in using. How to edit a film and upload it on to a website. How to write a press release that doesn’t get ignored. How to use the law to take on a big corporation. How to get a government to stay within its own laws. How to get scientific data to prove your point. How to promote your cause when there are so many good causes. How to research your cause when there doesn’t seem much written about it. How to hold a press conference. How do you make sure everyone turns up?


At the end of the day it’s an educational programme designed to equip people with the tools needed in order to bring media attention to the cause they believe in. And the more publicity you get for your cause, the more likely you are to bring about change.


Our sports have taught us to love being out there and to respect the environment that provides our playground. They also give us the motivation to try and do something to protect it.


Who knows better than a surfer about a polluted sea? Who knows better than a mountain biker about clear-cutting forests? Who knows better than a snowboarder about climate change? Even a skateboarder studies rainfall on a daily basis.


But being able to ride a bike or a surf board well requires a different set of skills to being able to use the media to obtain publicity for your cause.


If we want to change things, we need to learn some new skills. We need to learn how to use the media to give the small guy a big voice.


So I emailed the folk who are organising these lectures, told them a bit about us and guess what, they got straight back to us-


'Hey Will and Ben,
Thanks for the mail and wanting to attend our camp.
I have just been looking on your site and think its fab.
We haven’t made any decisions yet and have lots to get through but hopefully you will hear back from me in the next few weeks.
Really great project!
Have a lovely day, its drizzle drizzle drizzle here but we’re chirpy none the less.
Anja x'


So who knows what will happen!


Will and Ben

Monday, January 8, 2007

Monday Morning!

Howdy all!


Monday morning, raining and blowing a gale, real January weather! For days like this we’ll tuck a few blankets in the back of the Pedicabs!


Just had a call from Dave Tristram, Regeneration Officer (Project Development), Hereford Council. Dave and I are going to meet in late January to discuss possible funding for Hereford Pedicabs. To help us get on to our feet (or wheels I suppose) and get rolling. You might remember Dave from out first meeting with the Council, he was the guy with the rad hair!


Ben is back from skiing and champing to get the project moving on, as always we will keep you posted, and any time you want to ask a question or speak your mind feel free to leave a comment.


Will

Friday, January 5, 2007

Life's a funny old thing


I've been back at work this week, in my other job, and it's quite a strange feeling, same stuff different day and then I saw that Headline- Boredom is a pattern and not a reality. And it's true you know. It got me thinking, stuffs only as boring as you want to make it, choices are only there if you choose them. So my job isn't boring it's a challenge, the problems I face will reward me with solutions and all in all there is far more good things than bad things!


So what if lots of people don't see it like that? Well maybe we'll help change that, maybe each day when they ride a Mule into work they'll enjoy it, they'll feel the wind in their face and we'll slap a big old smile on there. I hope it's like that, I hope that we can show people that we can be a brand new choice for them to take, and that it'll be exciting. Just a thought, have a great weekend.


Will (Ben still skiing....bah!)

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

An Update....

Hey hey hey team!


Sorry it’s been so long, we’ve missed you but boy o boy have we got great news for you!


Just before Christmas, Ben and I had a fantastic meeting with lots of bods from the council who had taken time from their busy schedules to hear about Hereford Pedicabs! There were representatives from Tourism, Licensing, Sustainable Travel and from other initiatives including Street Scene.


They learnt all about what we have done so far and where we plan to go! It was a great opportunity for them to learn about how we plan to be sustainable through advertising and for them to have an opportunity to maybe be some of the first to advertise with us. With a launch planned in March we have plenty of time to secure some potential advertisers but as you lot all know that is not the point of mules for the masses. What we plan to do is to give everyone the opportunity to be part of a solution to all of the problems we face with travel and pollution and for it to be jolly good fun!


One of the highlights was Councillor Edwards popping in to hear about what we are doing, he is involved in all things environmental and was very taken by the idea, so much that he took a copy of the presentation to show to his fellow councillors! Its really great to be part of this you know, and to see how anyone involved can soon be caught up the three mainstays of everything we do, having fun, being green and being honest.


So, the council are aware of what we are doing and are very happy about it. We do however still have things to overcome, one of which is a storage depot


Which hopefully the lovely folk at Bulmers may be able to help us with. A great chap there, Ben Botwight, is looking into the possibility of using a storage container, more to come on this as it unfolds!


So from our great meeting with the council I went to see the Courtyard to talk to two lovely ladies- Lisa Wood and Kate White who deal with sales and marketing. They were a great laugh and took great interest in the Pedicabs. They do, you see, suffer somewhat from Herefords terrible traffic problems, but also have a solution in the way of a major cycle path at the rear which could, given the right transport, ferry people to and from town, and of course there is a promotional nature to the vehicles.


We talked at length about them helping us to launch Hereford Pedicabs and us helping them to promote their rural film festival. Together I think we can have quite an impact and really provide an enhanced service to the lovely folk of our town- YOU!


The Courtyard have a myspace which can be found here http://www.myspace.com/courtyard_hereford - check it out, whilst your are there also check the heroes section on the left…..


From the meeting at the Courtyard we went on to have some other chats with lots of great people and then went to our first annual Christmas Party , fancy dress is compulsory. As you will see from the photo Ben has made a Reindeer and is riding it and I have come as a giant Christmas Pudding. Not practical but lots of fun!!


We hope you also spotted this article-


Since our meetings Ben has been away skiing and I have been working on moving house and going back to work. It is still great to be a part of this and we still want all of you to join us. The bikes are to be ordered shortly and we will also launch a couple of websites which will enable people see a bit more of what we are up to.


The rest of the team are all good, Ghandi is still plugging away (and skiing with Ben at the mo) as are the rest of Ben's family (Ben used to be a ski instructor), all the other folk from along the way are still involved and the net gets cast wider still, with more and more people logging onto the blog everyday, and yes one of my New Years resolutions is to update the Blog more!!


So it’s going to be a great year, a really great year and by the spring you’ll be able to enjoy it in a Pedicab…… Play safe guys, until next time,


Will and Ben

Monday, January 1, 2007

Happy New Year

Happy new year from Ben and I, we are as always very busy but an update is in progress and will be with you shortly!!!
Have a great year and we hope you'll spend some of it with us.


Will and Ben