Well it has been a big week for the Treehouse Project and some significant strides have been taken forward to make this a reality for patients at the Holy Cross. First up we had the Treehouse Project Quiz, organised by the ever lovely Jo Speed, Manager of the Holy Cross who managed to rustle up 60 participants in a very short timescale! We raised nearly 400 hundred pounds for the Project through this night alone and also raised awareness of what the Treehouse Project is all about with people in the local community. OK, our team came last but you can't have everything.....

Next up Michael Kirkby (Colin White Tree Surgery) , Glenn Rackham, Chris Browne and Tom Clegg (Edge Rope Access) did an absolutely amazing (if slightly terrifying) job of felling two trees in order to create space for the platform. Weeks of cycling have left me with seemingly no upper body strength and so I just sort of scurried around panicking and cleaning up after them whilst they did the real mens' work. It looks great though and has cleared more space than we realised existed, which is great and could mean an extension of the platform to allow more space for patients to be with their families. Please see below for a picture of Michael up a tree.....

Finally, and perhaps most crucially, we found ourselves a structural engineer - Derek Mason of Super Structures Associates. Derek is an ultra marathon runner (this means distances of around 100 miles a time), a published author and a deeply experienced structural engineer, who was involved in the construction of the Olympic Stadium. He has an intuitive understanding of the benefits this project will provide to profoundly disabled people and we are really happy to be working with him. Derek's website is here if you'd like to find out more about the work his company does - http://www.superstructuresassociates.co.uk/

Next steps for the Project include a sponsored group bike ride we hope to run out of Brighton on June 30th - please get in touch if you'd like to ride yourself or offer support in putting the ride together. Once Derek, Jo Speed and I meet on the 17th of April, we will know more about what materials will be used for the Project - the search will then be on to find companies who can support us with the provision of building materials. Our proposed build date for the Treehouse Project is 11th - 16th July 2018, so time is tight - but the kindness and good hearts of people we meet on this journey is making us feel ever more confident that we can succeed in this. Cheers everybody!