Sponsorship and naked marketing

We seem to have been a bit slack with the old blogging recently, but then with only 16 days to go till we leave for Bangkok there are a million other things to do. The main things we've been concentrating on are fundraising and sponsorship. Letters have been flying out of Tommy's Cottage beseeching individuals and companies to part with their hard earned cash. Subsequently I come down to breakfast most mornings to find a pile of cheques which I rip open in anticipation; £790 came in one day last week, and over £200 this morning. So I'll have to tot it all up before we go and send them on their merry way to Mind. Mental health is something that affects so many people and almost everyone we speak to about our trip and Mind has been affected by it either directly or indirectly. So no wonder the cheques are flowing in. We're up to about £10,000 now but I am sure that once we get on our way and show people that we are really doing it, really driving 12,000 miles in a pink tuk tuk...then more people will donate. They had better do because otherwise Jo, being a naturist, is going to tour the country naked on our return. And 'they' thought the Naked Rambler was bad.

The last few days have been frustrating in terms of sponsorship. Although we have been consistently bowled over by the kindness of individuals, when it comes to dealing with big corporations the matter is very different. One particular company, who shall remain unnamed, have led us up the garden path. Over three weeks ago they replied enthusiastically to a proposal to sponsor us our flights, saying what dates were we looking at, they loved the idea etc etc. Now, 16 days before we leave, they say No. Grrrr. But have no fear, Malaysian Airlines have come to the rescue with some cheap flights via KL on the evening of May 19th.

However, we have had some luck on the sponsorship front with www.liftshare.com and www.activair.com. Both have kindly provided us with financial sponsorship in return for logos on Ting Tong. The great thing about having Liftshare on board is the fact that they tick the Big Green Box. The next thing to consider is how we can make our trip carbon neutral - perhaps Future Forests could sponsor us by planting enough trees to negate the effect of our trip on the environment.

On a rather different note, Jo and I would like to send all our thoughts and love to two very special people's families; Rose's and Livs'. Both girls were great friends of ours and tragically are no longer with us. I know that they would have approved of our madcap three-wheeled adventure, and we will be thinking of them often over the next few months.

That's all for now. More to follow soon. And if you haven't already got your tickets for our launch on May 17th at The Cobden then get in there.