Last night I had a dream. A dying whale, floating on its back, recounted its tale of swallowing an alligator to a boatload of people. As we watched, the alligator appeared through a bloody slit in the whales stomach.

Reflecting on what home means to us. Stability. Community.  A place. A person. Somewhere within ourselves; a feeling. A place to rest, to be safe. A sense of belonging.

A conversation about the fragility and transience of shelter and accommodation. The difficulty of settling, of knowing what to buy for dinner at the local shop, who the neighbours are, of forming close relationships with the people around. Starting to get a feel for it and time’s up, time to move on.

A conversation about the peace and satisfaction of finding a room in a good house with a good landlord, with housemates that feel like family.

A conversation about how great it is to have a house on wheels, a conversation about living on the side of the road, of the looks from the neighbours for taking up another parking space. Paranoia. A friendly family who let you live on their driveway. A conversation about whether this is self-reliance, is self-reliance a goal? Where does community and interdependence meet independence?

Ideas flying about other solutions. Thinking outside the box. Thinking of living in a box. Boxes.

Frustration and resentment about working jobs we don’t, like to spend all the money on rent. No room to grow. Stagnating in our mouldy cages.

Space. Freedom. Dignity. Warmth. Community. Growth. Peace. Getting creative.  Working together. Having fun. Experimenting. Resilience. Adaptation.

Monday 11th April
Late. Arrived at pre-lunch tea break before summarising round up, round off, sum up then feast. Helped Ben finish cooking curry for lunch. Starchy rice and dodgy pans. Sat and read books with Sam and Sally and Arran. Jess and I made a to-do list for product design. Yannis got a survey sorted for the young people at the YMCA. Conflict resolution in course design between Arran and I. Gable end put up in the workshop- first arched beam in posts, connected together with panels and roof. Exciting. Caitlin and Jess made beautiful flyers for our launch event.

Edventure is hosting an ‘Emergency First Aid’ certified one day training course at The Welsh Mill Hub from 9-4pm on Friday the 6th of May.

This course teaches the basic first aid skills needed in an office type work environment. This ‘Emergency first aid’ course allows you to be the appointed first person in a workplace.

The cost for the course is £120. Edventure is offering some subsidised places to local people working in the community sector in and around Frome.
For further information and to book your place please email:
[email protected]

Hi,

thank you for looking into this opportunity.

Click below to download the job description, person specification, and information on how to apply.

Please note that applications are open until April 24th, and interviews will take place on April 27th.

Office Manager Job Spec April 2016 – Edventure Frome CIC

Today has been a good day. Started the morning off in a bit of a haze, standard, and as ever with a few coffees down my neck I woke up again. 

Had our delivery of insulation arrive this morning half way through our check-in’s, so we all dropped task and went like a family of ants down the stairs to collect these what looked like giant cotton wool balls, one by one up the stairs again into the workshop, and later in the day up the ladder to Johannes’ office.

The afternoon in the workshop was really fun. We had music and power-tools, each other and sawdust. We cut and screwed, glued and clamped. We got annoyed, we rejoiced. We felt accomplished, we felt deflated. To hold your-self within a group that is working toward an end is a task in itself sometimes. To be integral to your needs and your ideas, yet make yourself flexible enough to accommodate the organic ideas coming from this unique combination of people. Wow. What a wonder.

The 4:40pm collective review is a good thing. It means we all have to get out of what we’ve been doing for hours, to re-connect with one another and how we are feeling. How we see the motions of the day having played out, how we feel about what we’ve accomplished, and of course a chance to lie down on the sofa and rest.

Then at 5pm we can go, but no one moves because we’re all so tired, the greatest kind of tired; an exhaustion from creating and sharing and crafting and being brilliant.

Week four flew by like a flash of lightening in a tropical storm.  Starting in one month and finishing in another, the feeling of passing time really embedded itself in my mind, and in the working of the team. The week commenced on Tuesday morning at 10am instead of Monday, as it was a Bank Holiday and a handful of us Edventurers, took to the muddy path along the river and boogied on down at Mell’s Daffodil Day. The sun shone, a rainbow showed it’s cheeky face, we ate, drank, laughed and had a beauty of a country day out.
The week after this one is going to be full on building our tiny home, so week four has felt fast paced and full of buzz as everyone ties together flailing ribbons and bolts down final decisions, designs and templates.
Tuesday morning saw us in a workshop run by Neil on ‘Giving Feedback’, looking at our qualities and pitfalls, challenges and allergy’s, recognising our qualities and how to preserve them. How to compliment and critique members of a functional team in a way that is useful, constructive and ultimately helpful in the arena of positive change for the person involved. A wonderful insight into the self, and to see everyone else doing the same; there is a real softening in acceptance. Week 4 has been about us soundproofing the workshop so that next week we can bang and bash as much as we need to without disturbing other workers at The Hub. We’ve been ordering, pricing, project planning making full size templates and designing.  For me personally the week has culminated in a really honest and eye opening renewal of motivations and wishes. Reflecting on Education, Construction, Sequencing, Models and Classes. Really feeling like a big, wonderful family of brilliantly minded folk. I feel very lucky to be surrounded by new friends and people who are here to help, in so many ways.

Thank you Edventure.

(G’s words)

Monday

Back at Edventure for Week 3 … time flies!  Host for the week is marvellous Mona who started the day off by prompting a confession from each of us of our most memorable musical theatre moments. Previous Edventurer Ben Horne came and gave us a thought provoking talk about his experience at the Jungle in Calais.  This was followed by (careful) roleplaying of the various risks that could occur in the workshop:  Shoes on, hair up, saws the right way round please!

Tuesday

Host Mona serenaded us on the ukulele, at the check-in today, performing a fantastic song about climate change.  We carried on with the design of the semi-independent living structure and made a 1:1 detail of the roof. The site team carried on clearing the never-ending ivy!!!  Most of us stayed behind in the evening to watch a film called ‘Tiny’(Click link here), a documentary about tiny homes — very inspiring.

Wednesday

Morning check-in again, counting to twenty proving to be very difficult. Catch-up with everyone on how the tasks for the week are progressing. Site clearance was finished today (for now anyway). The project planners are testing their numeracy skills. Materials have arrived for soundproofing the workshop. In-jokes are starting… “hoops or arches?”

Thursday

After a slightly late start, we began the day with a business development session with Johannes, where we try to pin down our key questions and assumptions. After lunch Neil and Amelia took us for a metaphorical swim. The afternoon was spent soundproofing the workshop, working out templates and planning the roles for next week.
The pace is picking up and with another week finished we’re all poised at the side of the pool ready to jump into week 4.

(Written by a hardworking member of the student team)